Loading ...Assad is neither Shiite or Shia, he is Baathist of Alawite extraction. His clan is a small minority, that rule with a rod of iron.
His elder brother was destined to take over from his pig of a father, who happily gassed loads of villages and towns. But his brother died in a car crash, so he became heir and duly took over. Some say that he is only a figure head, for the very nasty types still around from his fathers days, who really rule Syria still.