Residents in Latakia, Jableh, and Tartus staged a sit-in and demonstrations following calls by Sheikh Ghazal Ghazal, head of the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the diaspora. The protesters demanded the release of detainees and called for standing against all forms of terrorism. Sheikh Ghazal had sharply criticized the Syrian transitional government, saying: “Syria has turned into an arena for settling sectarian scores, even though we, as Alawites, have never attached any importance to sectarian affiliation, and we never objected to Sunni rule. Even if it were led by a Kurd, a Christian, a Druze, or any other component of Syrian society, this stems from our belief in the legitimacy and unity of the state, بعيدًا عن أي منظور آخر,” according to the statement published on the council’s official media page on Facebook.
