MP Jumblatt: Let them do a DNA test to prove whether I belong in Beirut!

Source: Nowlebanon.com, 9-9-2008
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, said that MP Saad Hariri's efforts to bring about reconciliation in Tripoli had strengthened national unity.
At an Iftar in the village of Kitirmaya on Monday, Jumblatt responded to Future MP Ghinwa Jalloul's comments that Beirut is not for everyone, which Jumblatt described as "narrow discourse" that was unacceptable from a representative of Beirut's citizens. Jumblatt said that Lebanon's capital welcomes everybody, but that visitors must respect the city's traditions and customs.
"The best way to know whether or not we belong to Beirut is to go to the security forces, which recently purchased an expensive laboratory from a famous university for 6 million US dollars," Jumblatt said, somewhat sardonically. "Let us have them do a DNA test to prove who is a Beirut citizen and who is not. If the results show that I am not, then I come from Kurdish origins, and I must go and follow [Iraqi Kurdish leader] Massoud al-Barazani."
"Disappointedly, this discourse came from an MP, as if this MP comes from Pluto," Jumblatt said.
Jumblatt also touched on Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's offer to meet with Hariri, saying he welcomed Nasrallah's remarks and that "MP Saad Hariri and I are open to everybody."