Syrian rebels set fire to the tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father in his family’s hometown in Al-Qardahah, near Latakia. Eyewitness video released on Wednesday, 11 December, showed men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad. The date of the footage could not be independently verified, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that gunmen set fire to the tomb on Tuesday. Hafez Al-Assad took office on March 14 1971, seizing power in a bloodless coup in which Dr Noureddin Al-Atassi was overthrown. His son Bashar was ousted over the weekend and fled to Russia where he was given political asylum. The family ruled Syria for more than 50 years with a brutal regime.