Syrian rebel fighters set fire to tomb of Assad’s father

QARDAHA, Syria: The tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad´s father Hafez was torched in his hometown of Qardaha, AFP footage taken on Wednesday showed, with rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor told AFP the rebels had set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad´s Alawite community.

AFP footage showed parts of the mausoleum ablaze and damaged, with the tomb of Hafez torched and destroyed.

The vast elevated structure atop a hill has an intricate architectural design with several arches, its exterior embellished with ornamentation etched in stone.

It also houses the tombs of other Assad family members, including Bashar´s brother Bassel, who was being groomed to inherit power before he was killed in a road accident in 1994.

Meanwhile, Syria´s new transitional prime minister has called for Syrians who have sought refuge abroad to return to their homeland following the ouster of longtime president Bashar al-Assad.

Mohammad al-Bashir, appointed by rebel groups as the transitional head of government to run the country until March, told Italy´s Corriere della Sera daily that one of his first goals was to “bring back the millions of Syrian refugees who are abroad”.

“Their human capital, their experience will allow the country to flourish,” Bashir said in an interview published on Wednesday.

“Mine is an appeal to all Syrians abroad: Syria is now a free country that has earned its pride and dignity. Come back. We must rebuild, be reborn, and we need everyone´s help.”

Concerns about sectarian violence have surfaced, though the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led the rebel offensive, has sought to reassure religious minorities they will be safe in the new Syria.

The country´s diverse communities, including Christians, Kurds and Alawites, are now waiting to see what sort of government Bashir will lead.

The head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, called on Wednesday for “mutual respect” between religions in Syria.

“I pray... that the Syrian people may live in peace and security in their beloved land and the different religions may walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of that nation afflicted by so many years of war,” he said at his general audience at the Vatican.

Bashir told the Corriere that the “wrong behaviour of some Islamist groups has led many people, especially in the West, to associate Muslims with terrorism and Islam with extremism”.—AFP

Syria´s Baath party announced on Wednesday it was suspending work indefinitely, days after rebels ousted president Bashar al-Assad from power, ending more than half a century of the family and party´s rule.

The Baath party central leadership has decided to “suspend party work and activity in all its forms... until further notice”, said a statement published on the website of the party´s newspaper, adding that its property and funds would be handed over to the interior and finance ministries.