Badawi, a mother of six, was also a member of the Ba’ath party, which took
power in 1963 military coup that destroyed the country’s democratic
institutions in favour of a Soviet style political system dominated by
Assad’s minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
Intensified ground and aerial bombardment on Syrian cities by Assad’s forces
in recent weeks has prompted diehard Baathists and Assad’s loyalists to
defect.
They have been mostly Sunni Muslim, from the majority sect at the forefront of
the 16-month uprising against Assad.
Nawaf al-Fares, Syria’s ambassador to Iraq and a former Ba’ath party chief in
the eastern province of Deir al-Zor, fled to Qatar through Jordan two weeks
ago.
Fares, according to opposition sources, is a friend of Manaf Tlas, a brigadier
general in the Republican Guards and a member of Assad’s inner circle, who
fled Syria earlier this month.
Source: agencies
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