"Hezbollah- the resistance- should clearly determine where it stands regarding the Damascus regime," said the leader of the Democratic Gathering in a press conference held in his hometown of Mukhtara.

"What has been referred to as the 'Quadripartite Alliance' never existed and will not exist," said the Progressive Socialist Party leader.

"We have to agree on Lebanon's independence, sovereignty and freedom. So let them give us an answer."

Jumblatt forged an alliance with Hezbollah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal Movement and MP Saad Hariri's Future Movement prior to the parliamentary elections in May and June.

But differences emerged strongly earlier this month when Jumblatt and Hariri said they supported an international tribunal into ex-premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

Amal and Hezbollah were alarmed of the increasingly Western intervention, demanding that such major decisions be reached through a consensus, not voting.

According to local political observers, Jumblatt 's statement on the alliance has been expected since a long time for the following reasons:

- Jumblatt and 2 members of his parliamentary bloc ( Minister Marwan Hamade and Wael Abu Faour are on Syria 's enemy or hit list. While Hezbollah is Syria's most favorite partner.

- Allegiance of Hezbollah to Lebanon's independence and sovereignty has recently been continuously questioned. Ever since Hezbollah was credited with liberating the south of Lebanon, it gained a lot of popularity amongst all the Lebanese regardless of religious or political affiliation. This popularity has been dropping slowly but surely ever since former PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated. Many observers believe that Hezbollah has a fundamental conflict of interest with Lebanon's independence and sovereignty, since it is totally dependent on financial support from Iran and arms supplies from Syria.

- The Hezbollah and Amal ministers in the government of Fouad Siniora have been more interested in making Syria look good than governing the country. Every time the question of Syria came up in government discussions they always sided with Syria and every time they didn’t get their way they pulled out. As we write this article all the 5 ministers are not participating in the government meetings.

- Hezbollah has maintained its support for the Syrian regime while Jumblatt has attacked it and blamed it for all the assassinations that took place in Lebanon. UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis also blamed the Syrian authorities for Hariri's assassination in his December 12 report.

- While Jumblatt has continued to support the resistance against Israel to reclaim the Shebaa farms if Syria will officially declare them as Lebanese, Hezbollah has added new demands such as the liberation of the 7 villages and Syria has been hedging on whether these farms are Lebanese or Syrian. Syria so far has refused any border demarcation with Lebanon and decided to leave the issue of the Shebaa farms till the end.

- While Jumblatt has been calling for president Lahoud's resignation, and voted against the extension of his term that was engineered by Syria, Hezbollah continues to support president Lahoud. Lahoud in turn also has been very supportive of Hezbollah and has refused to hold any government meetings at his Baabda palace as long as Hezbollah ministers are out of the government.

Political observers that Ya Libnan interviewed concluded that Hezbollah needs to prove to the million Lebanese who marched on March 14 under the banner of the Cedar revolution their allegiance to Lebanon's sovereignty and independence. Otherwise support for Hezbollah will continue to drop and will eventually be viewed by the Lebanese as a fifth column for Syria and Iran. Once Hezbollah loses the support of the Lebanese public it will be rated as any militia group and will be treated accordingly.

Jumblatt was a major supporter of Hezbollah. While UN resolution 1559 called for disarming all the militia and resistance groups, Jumblatt was against the resolution, supported Hezbollah and called for dialogue. Jumblatt 's loss as an ally for Hezbollah and Amal will have a major impact on the future of these 2 organizations, since he is one of the most outspoken Lebanese leaders and commands a lot of respect amongst all the Lebanese regardless of their religious or political affiliation.

According to Jumblatt: It is time for Hezbollah and Amal to revise their strategy and decide their allegiance. Is it to Lebanon or Syria ?

Sources: Ya Libnan, Local newspapers