Jumblatt, Walid (1949- )

Lebanese Druze Muslim politician. His charismatic father, Kamal, was founder of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in 1949, and he became PSP leader in March 1977 after Kamal's assassination and subsequently played an important role in Lebanese politics. He made strategic alliances with Syria and with the moderate Shia Amal militia of Nabih Berri in defence of the semi-autonomous Druze enclave against encroaching Maronite Christian forces.

In 1983, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Shuf (Chouf), east of Beirut, Jumblatt organized an onslaught of Druze militia against Maronite Christian militias in the Shuf. This was successful and was followed, in 1984-85, by further expansion of the enclave southwards and westwards. In 1984 and 1989 Jumblatt served as a minister in broad-based Lebanese governments, but in 1987 the Druze militia were involved in fierce clashes with Amal.

He was born into a family thathas been the traditional head of the Druze community, a Muslim sect dating back to the Middle Ages and based in the Shuf mountains. He studied in universities in Beirut and France.

Walid Jumblatt broke Druze traditional by marrying a non-Druze Jordanian. With his liking for motorbikes and leather jackets, he is an unconventional figure and, politically, he has been unpredictable in his alliances.