Syrian rebels burn grave of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez

Syrian rebel fighters have destroyed the tomb of late President Hafez al-Assad, father of ousted President Bashar, in the family’s hometown.

Videos verified by the BBC showed gunmen singing as they walked around the burning mausoleum in Qardaha, in the northwest coastal region of Latakia.

Rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept through Syria in a lightning offensive that toppled the 54-year rule of the Assad dynasty. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, where he and his family received asylum.

Statues and posters of Hafez and his son have been torn down across the country to cheers from Syrians celebrating the end of their rule.

In 2011, Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising, sparking a devastating civil war in which more than half a million people died and another 12 million were forced to flee their homes.

Hafez al-Assad ruled Syria ruthlessly from 1971 until his death in 2000, when power passed to his son.

He was born and raised in a family of Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam and a religious minority in Syria, whose main population center is in the province of Latakia, near the Mediterranean coast and near the border with Turkey.

Many Alawites, who make up about 10% of the country’s population, were staunch supporters of Assad during his long stay in power.

Some of them now fear being targeted by the victorious rebels.

On Monday, a rebel delegation with members of HTS and another Sunni Muslim group, the Free Syrian Army, met with Qardaha elders and received their support, according to the Reuters news agency.

The rebel delegation signed a document that, according to Reuters, emphasized Syria’s religious and cultural diversity.

HTS and allied rebel factions took control of the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday after years of civil war.

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who has now started using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a former jihadist who cut ties with Al Qaeda in 2016. He has recently pledged tolerance towards different religious groups and communities. .

The UN envoy for Syria has said the rebels must translate their “good messages” into practice on the ground.

Meanwhile, the US secretary of state said Washington would recognize and fully support a future Syrian government as long as it emerged from a credible and inclusive process that respected minorities.

HTS has appointed a transitional government headed by Mohammed al-Bashir, former head of the rebel administration in the northwest, until March 2025.

bashir chaired a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday Members of his new government and Assad’s former cabinet attended to discuss the transfer of portfolios and institutions.