Supporters of the Assad regime expressed unprecedented outrage on social media websites at keeping Fahd Freij in his position as Defense Minister in the new government of the Assad regime despite calls by Assad’s loyalists to bring Freij to trial following the massacres suffered by regime forces in Shaer oilfield and in Al Raqqa province. The Assad regime’s security forces demanded loyalists to cancel a protest they threatened to stage last Tuesday. The families of the dead pro-regime militants have expressed deep outrage at the Assad regime’s scarifise of their sons to protect his throne, even calling Freij the “Minister of Death” and demanding the prosecution of all defaulters. A campaign was launched on Facebook to denounce the Assad regime’s neglect of the demands of his supporters to relieve Freij of his office. Nasr al-Hariri, Secretary General of the Syrian Coalition, said that ISIS’s takeover of the Tabaqa Air Base in eastern Syrian comes within a series of the Assad regime’s systematic handover of its positions in eastern Syria to ISIS. “The Assad regime is seeking through this tactic to win the sympathy of the international community and to give the impression that it is a target for terrorism. Moreover, Assad’s sacrificing of 650 soldiers who were left to die in the air base while sending helicopters to evacuate the officers clearly shows that Assad’s sole concern is not the safety of his soldiers but the survival of his regime. It also proves that Assad is ready to sacrifice his own soldiers in return for achieving political ends.” (Source: Agencies)