The tomb of Hafez, the father of deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was set on fire in his birthplace of Qardaha on Wednesday, according to AFP footage, with rebel fighters in fatigues and young men watching.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said AFP that rebels had set fire to the mausoleum in Assad’s Alawite community’s heartland of Latakia.
AFP film showed parts of the mausoleum on fire and damaged, as well as Hafez’s tomb being charred and demolished.
The large raised edifice atop a hill has an elaborate architectural design with multiple arches, and its exterior is adorned with engraved stone ornaments.
It also contains the tombs of other family members, notably Bashar’s brother Bassel, who was being groomed to take leadership before being killed in a car accident in 1994.
On Sunday, Islamist-led rebels launched a lightning onslaught, seizing major cities before reaching Damascus and forcing Assad to leave, thereby ending his family’s control of more than 50 years.
In another development, the rebels who deposed al-Assad and are now in power in Syria have named Mohammed al-Bashir as the country’s interim leader until March 1.
al-Bashir was also key in bringing down al-Assad’s dictatorship.
“The general command has tasked us with running the transitional government until March 1,” said a statement credited to al-Bashir on state television’s Telegram account, referring to him as “the new Syrian prime minister.”
