"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." Bertrand Russel (1870-1970)
Walid Jumblatt is the leader of Lebanon's most powerful Druze clan and heir to a leftist political dynasty based around the Progressive Socialist Party.
He is seen by many as the country's political weathervane - consistently emerging on the winning side through the twists and turns of the 1975-90 civil war and its troubled aftermath.
He was a supporter of Syria after the war but, since the death of strongman Hafez al-Assad in 2000, he has campaigned for Damascus to relinquish control. Jumblatt has spoken openly of the fear that he - like murdered former PM Rafik Hariri - may face assassination because of this stance.
He not only commands the loyalty of members of the Druze community - a secretive offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents make up about 10% of the population - but is admired by members of other religious minorities in Lebanon.
Madness takes over Lebanon. Militants are fighting in the streets of Beirut. Military guns are on both sides. What is the prospect of such a situation. Aren't the Lebanese fed-up with wars?
23 November 2007 Lebanese President Emile Lahoud left the Baabda presidential palace without handing over the power to a new president. This is the first time since independence in 1943.
