In Syria, deadly road-rage incident tars President Assad’s family
Source: Washington Post
BEIRUT — An apparent road-rage incident that caused the death of a Syrian colonel last week has led to a rare eruption of anger against the family of President Bashar al-Assad in a key stronghold of his minority sect in northwestern Syria.
Although some Assad supporters say the colonel’s bodyguard fired the shot that killed him, others allege that a relative of the president pulled the trigger of the Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Either way, the incident has enraged residents of an area long loyal to Assad at a time when his government is losing substantial territory elsewhere in the country to rebels. During a protest Saturday, dozens in the coastal city of Latakia called for Suleiman al-Assad, the president’s cousin, to be tried — and even executed — for the colonel’s shooting death during a roadside scuffle on Thursday. On social media, the vitriol was harsh, with much of it directed at the president and his family.
“This is not the first time that a thug from the Assad family attacks an Alawite citizen in Latakia,” Louay Hussain, a well-known critic of the president, wrote in a Facebook post.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/in-syria-deadly-road-rage-incident-tars-presidentassads-family/2015/08/10/20e04f7a-3f5a-11e5-b2c4-af4c6183b8b4_story.html
