'Assad's mother fears he'll end up like Gaddafi'
New WikiLeaks documents suggest Anissa Makhlouf is 'disappointed' by the fact her son 'made a mess' of Syria
New WikiLeaks documents suggest that the embattled president's mother is "disappointed in Bashar and Maher for "the mess that they have created in Syria."
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According to information obtained by the US-based intelligence firm Strafor and released Tuesday, Assad's matriarch has expressed her disapproval of Bashar's handling of the uprising against him and "She has been saying things like: had your father been alive things would have never come to such a point."
According to the report, Anissa Makhlouf is considered to have had "a pivotal influence over Bashar's political development." Makhlouf married Hafez Assad – who was considered her social inferior within Syrian society – in 1958.
The former Syrian first lady is said to be "very concerned that her boys will met the same fate as Gaddafi and his sons," and has been pressing them to look into "an exit strategy" before it is too late.
The Makhlouf family belongs to Syria's Alawite-Shiite minority sect, which rose to dominate political system in a country like Syria with a Sunni majority.
Assad himself has voiced his confidence that his regime will be able to defeat "domestic terrorism" and the "foreign powers' schemes" and emerge from the uprising stronger.
The UN's Human Rights Commission says nearly 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.
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