Syrians flee fierce fighting in Aleppo
Source: The Guardian
Fierce fighting has erupted in Syria's historic northern city of Aleppo, with thousands of residents forced to flee amid bloody clashes between resurgent Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters and government troops.
Activists posted video footage showing locals fleeing Aleppo in cars and minibuses early on Saturday, after the authorities warned they would shell rebel-controlled districts. Most of the fighting was raging in the Salaheddin part of the city, where FSA fighters were massing in large numbers, the activists said.
Aleppo, Syria's second city, is dominated by Sunni Muslims and has a minority population of Christians of various denominations. It had so far largely escaped the country's 16-month conflict, which has recently developed into a fast-changing guerilla war waged between opposition fighters and the Syrian army.
This week fighting reached the heart of the capital, Damascus, and a bomb attack wiped out four members of President Bashar al-Assad's military-security command.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/21/syrians-flee-fierce-fighting-aleppo
= new reply since forum marked as read
Hope he's okay, and his family. 
Sunbathing and drinking at bars, men and women lived in a bubble on Syria's Mediterranean coast. They refused to believe their country was collapsing into chaos. Until now.
.....
In Tartous, an Alawite stronghold on the Mediterranean seaside, many now worry their Alawite president will be unable to secure the fate of his 12 percent minority community.
For the first time since the start of the 16-month-old revolt against Assad, led mainly by Syria's majority Sunni Muslims, the shops of Tartous were shuttered. At work and at home, people were glued to state television.
"We don't understand what is happening. Maybe Bashar will flee and leave us to face what's next. That's what we're thinking. The trust is gone," said Umm Baha, a mother of four.
....
STATE OF DENIAL
....
Tartous, like many Alawite areas, is more liberal than Syria's majority Sunni provinces. Women wear skimpy bathing suits on sandy beaches. Restaurants are stocked with alcohol. Long-time residents estimate that nearly half of Syria's entire Alawite population has relocated to Tartous province since the uprising started. Finding an apartment in the city that swelled from 900,000 to 1.2 million inhabitants is now a matter of luck, real estate agents say.
Private homes once thudded with music late into the night. Young men and women giggled and smoked water pipes at cafes with a sea view. More chic restaurants with flowers and white tablecloths opened monthly.
Passersby on the cornice were not convinced by new banners posted by local officials on Friday to celebrate Russia and China's latest veto at the United Nations of a Western-backed resolution threatening more sanctions.
"We're sick of this. Their veto is supposed to mean we are not alone?" said 35-year-old Ibrahim. "It's not going to stop the (rebel) march toward Damascus.
Maybe the coast will be next."
snip
(This story was reported for Reuters by an independent journalist whose name is withheld for security reasons)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/21/us-syria-crisis-alawites-idUSBRE86K0JM20120721
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/07/21/227521.html
An Alawite coastal strip from Turkey to Lebanon
Historically, the Alawites, a persecuted sect considered heretical by the Sunni Muslim establishment, tilled the fields in the mountains east of Syria’s northern coast. The wealthy Mediterranean coastal areas were dominated by Sunni merchants and a mix of other religious groups – including Greek Orthodox Christians and Armenians
http://www.france24.com/en/20120720-syria-endgame-stall-alawite-holdout-bashar-assad-latakia-shiite-sunni-muslim
Maybe they will rename it Jonestown but will the UN mull questions of genocide?
It probably won't get that far, I'm sure but these are the overlooked questions that won't be asked
Let freedom ring
