A Statement from Members of the Alawite Sect Condemning the Regime’s Atrocities
A Statement of Condemnation from Homs the Coastal Cities (Alawites) - We the citizens, political activists, and intellectuals from the Alawite sect in Homs and the surrounding suburbs of the coastal cities, strongly condemn the massacres committed by Bashar al-Assad. In particular, we condemn the bombardment of our city, the brave city of Homs, where hundreds were martyred and hundreds more wounded, including women and children. These people are oppressed innocent Syrians that have been affected. We condemn the massacres and raids committed by the regime in Damascus, Hama, Idlib, and all the Syrian cities and towns. Out of fear for our beloved Syria, we are committed to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people. We call upon all sects and ethnic minority groups to unite as one and to halt all efforts put forth by the Assad regime to drag the country into a never-ending civil war.
Informed Comment: Syria Veto and the Revenge of the BRICS - Syria’s high officer corps is disproportionately drawn from the Allawi sect, to which the president also belongs. Allawis, a form of Shiite Islam, make up about 10% of the Syrian population, but are more powerful in the ruling Baath Party than their numbers might suggest. There have been no high officer defections, but NCOs and troops from the Sunni branch of Islam (who make up over 70% of the population) have defected, and formed a militia that has ambushed and killed loyalist troops and officers. The regime appears to be holding the families of those defectors hostage or taking revenge on the defectors by targetting the neighborhoods where their clans live.
Russia Today: Syrian rebels claim 50 killed, govt says attack staged - Video
Jason Ditz: Reports: Dozens Killed as Syrian Forces Bombard Homs