BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt called Wednesday for a new Taif agreement between the Lebanese, noting that the agreement which ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War has expired.

“The Taif is over, we are in need of a new deal between Sunnis and Shiites,” said Jumblatt during a seminar on the rise of Islamists and fundamentalists to power in the Arab world.

He added that the Lebanese were in a need of new pact that would regulate ties and power sharing among various Lebanese factions.

The PSP leader reassured the Lebanese that there was no new civil war in the offing, saying dialogue was ongoing between the Lebanese.

Jumblatt mocked the drafting of a new Constitution in Syria and the canceling of Article 8 which states that Syria’s Baath Party is the only ruling party in the country.

“The Baath Party is cloning itself by itself, the best thing is that it leaves,” he said. Jumblatt added that Russia and China have insisted that any settlement should keep President Bashar Assad in his post.

“The more blood is shed [in Syria], the worse the situation gets.”