Sam Kiley: Syria’s neighbours see liberation as a mess in need of fixing

As preparations were being made to entomb former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in a mausoleum nearby, a young Imam sat on the steps of the mosque and sighed, before confessing a dangerous theological and political truth. “As Alawites, we’re not Shi’a Muslim, you know? We’re not, strictly speaking, very Muslim, really. Under Assad we just subscribed to all that to create a power block with Shi’a in Lebanon, and in Iran, to support our minority rule,” he explained 24 years ago in the mountain village of al-Qardaha.

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