Jumblatt lashed out at Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, without naming him, reminding him that there is no escape from a defense strategy.

"There is no getaway from a comprehensive defense strategy where all the weapons will be under the Lebanese army command," Jumblatt said in an editorial to be published by the PSP weekly mouthpiece al-Anbaa on Tuesday.

"The Lebanese authority should be the only one eligible to possess weapons just like all over the world," the Druze leader added.

"No country in the world agrees to have armed factions outside its control that want to declare wars with the enemy whenever they desire as if they are the only ones that run the country's businesses," Jumblatt said in reference to Nasrallah's declaration of "open war" against Israel following the killing of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh.

"We in Lebanon have liberated our land and defeated the Israeli occupation more than once. We have also accomplished our national duties," Jumblatt said.

"We can do without terrorist or non-terrorist wars that could drag us to never ending conflicts on our territory," he stressed.

"An open war can be averted through a defense strategy and through the handing over those alive (Israeli soldiers) or the body parts to the legitimate authority in order to negotiate this dossier with the United Nations," Jumblatt proposed.

Sources: Naharnet, Ya Libnan