Is This 'Beach Town' Going To Be The Place Where Assad's Loyalists Will Make Their Last Stand?

Image: The port city of Tartus is sheltered by a mountain range.

In Ravaged Syria, Beach Town May Be Loyalists’ Last Resort -- New York Times

TARTUS, Syria — Loyalists who support the government of President Bashar al-Assad are flocking to the Mediterranean port of Tartus, creating an overflowing boomtown far removed from the tangled, scorched rubble that now mars most Syrian cities.

There are no shellings or air raids to interrupt the daily calm. Families pack the cafes lining the town’s seaside corniche, usually abandoned in December to the salty winter winds. The real estate market is brisk. A small Russian naval base provides at least the impression that salvation, if needed, is near.

Many of the new residents are members of the Alawite minority, the same Shiite Muslim sect to which Mr. Assad belongs. The latest influx is fleeing from Damascus, people who have decided that summer villas, however chilly, are preferable to the looming battle for the capital.

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My Comment: This is a 'false peace'. It will only be a matter of time .... probably sooner rather than later .... that the full force of Syria's civil war reaches this part of the country. And if this is where Assad's loyalists want to make their last stand .... even more so.