By Kolawole Ojebisi
The accumulated anger and bitterness caused by the Assads’ brutal reign and misrule in Syria over the years found expression in an orgy of fire-raisings today.
This is as the tomb of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez was torched in his hometown of Qardaha,
Rebel fighters in fatigues set fire to the mausoleum, located in the Latakia heartland of Assad’s Alawite community.
Footage of the incident taken on Wednesday showed young men watching gleefully as the mausoleum burned.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights parts of the mausoleum were ablaze and damaged, with the tomb of Hafez torched and destroyed.
The mausoleum while it stood was a vast elevated structure atop a hil, 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.
Recall that on Sunday, a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels seized key cities before reaching Damascus and forcing Assad to flee, ending more than 50 years of his family’s rule.
