Syrian Alwaite writer Fouad Humera has claimed that more than 80% of Alawites do not support Bashar Assad, himself from the Alawite sect.
"The Alawites in Syria were torn between the fire of the regime that does not protect them, and the fire of their partners in the country who do not accept them," Humera said.
"The Alawite community of around four million people became involved in the conflict because of some 50,000 ignorant people, while the opposition didn’t help them," he said.
Humera told Anatolia Agency that he "denounces the practices of the Syrian political and armed opposition because they didn’t help the Alawites,” asserting that "80 percentof the community are not with Bashar Assad."
The writer said that "Alawite officers were not encouraged to defect, there were no links made between them and the fighters…The Alawites have no representation in the institutions of the revolutionand and were not encouraged to become part of it.”
"Syrians need to clean the revolution from vengeance, which leads to injustice."
Humera said that there is now more "grumbling" in the Alawite community, asking "what was offered to the sect? If the Sunni defected from the army and joined the rebels, he becomes a hero, and if the Alawite defected, he is considered a traitor worthy of slaughter in front of his family."
Humera said he tried to smuggle an officer in the Republican Guards, but he was asked not to tell the FSA that he is an Alawite. "So how can that be when his name indicates his sect?!" he asked.
He explained that Alawites need to "understand the revolution correctly", adding that the opposition and the media have to open channels with the sect.
If the decision was in the hands of the sect, he said, "Alawites would have crushed Bashar Assad, but they are trapped by the opposition"."
"The regime is following the steps of Gadhafi, if not worse," he said.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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