In Syria's Alawite area, joy at Assad fall but fear of Islamism

But they fear marginalisation -- and even worse, reprisals -- from the Islamist-led rebels who overthrew him. The alliance spearheaded by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which seized Damascus and ousted Bashar al-Assad on December 8 after a lightning offensive, has sought to reassure minority communities in the Sunni Muslim majority country. Assad, from the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam, long portrayed himself as a protector of religious minorities. Now Alawites fear that their community...