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Alawites in Syria Flee Their Homes amid Fears of Ethnic Cleansing
(Independent-UK) Charlotte McDonald-Gibson - Members of Syria's minority Alawite community are fleeing their homes and going into hiding, terrified that avenging rebels will hunt them down as more areas of the country come under the control of fighters trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad. Members of the Sunni Muslim branch of Islam make up more than 70% of Syria's 22 million people. But they have for decades been sidelined from positions of power by members of the Assad family's Alawite sect, a branch of Shia Islam that makes up 12% of Syria's population.