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 On
March 16, 1977 Lebanon's Druse (Druze) Muslim leader Kamal Jumblat (also
Jumblatt) was assassinated by the pro-Syrian faction of the Lebanese Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party
(SSNP), possibly in collaboration with Syrian secret service agents (Mukhabarat).
He was shot and killed in his car by four gunmen who also killed his bodyguard
(a few meters from a Syrian check point) in the area of the Shouf (Chouf)
Mountains.
Two weeks before his death, exiled Lebanese nationalist leader Raymond Edde warned Jumblatt that the Syrians would kill him and asked him to depart for Paris and help establish a Lebanese government in exile. He declined, saying fatalistically that "the
Jumblats are usually killed - they don't die in their beds."
Jumblat opposed the strong presence of Syria forces in Lebanon and forces
under his control attacked Syrian troops. His son, Walid Jumblat became the successor to Kamal, but he had a totally different personality, he had the reputation of a playboy, wore leather jackets, jeans drove on a motorbike, and was married with a non-Druze,
Jordanian woman.
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