These Alawites have stated that they don't want any association with the Syrian president given the brutal crackdown he has initiated over the course of the past two years, a crackdown that is thought to have killed 70,000 people according to United Nations statistics. (
Reuters, March 23 2013)
One of the organizers of the conglomeration in Cairo a man named Ali Daioub told a crowd that as their country "slides towards a sectarian conflict, we must all raise our voices."
Another organizer echoed his sentiments when he stated that, "This revolution is for all Syrians. Our goal must be to dismantle the entire regime. I think most Alawites hate the Assad family. But the Alawites have a fear, planted by the Assads, of what comes next." (
The Daily Star Lebanon, March 24 2013)
This is in clear reference to the fears Assad and many of his supporters have stirred up, that being that Assad's regime is a bulwark against an onslaught of Islamic Sunni fundamentalists -- which is how they characterize the entire Syrian ragtag rebel opposition -- that will butcher the Alawite minority should Mr. Assad and his regime be ousted from power.
