Original sentence: It is reported that the Assad government has the support of the majority of the country's Christians of various ethnicities and denominations.Large scale incidents of sectarianism amongst the Sunni population have been said to be rooted in that both Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad are Alawites, a minority many Sunnis see as heretics, even though Assad has appointed the majority of Ministerial positions of the Cabinet of Syria, the chief executive body of the Syrian Arab Republic, to Sunni Politicians and his wife is also a Sunni muslim.The Alawite sect of Shia Islam has the second highest religious following in the Syrian Arab Republic and remains at the heart of the Assad government's grassroot support.The only Sufi movement to clearly side with the rebels is the Zayd movement
Edited sentence: Additionally, the Syrian government maintains a gang network known as the shabiha, a shadow militia that anti-government activists allege are prepared to use force, violence, weapons and racketeering, whose members primarily consist of Alawites.In 2012 it was reported that the Assad government had the reluctant support of the majority of the country's Christians of various ethnicities and denominations, athough by 2014 Syria's Christians and their militias such as the Sutoro had joined the Syrian opposition aganist the Assad regime.Large scale incidents of sectarianism amongst the Sunni population have been said to be rooted in that both Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad are Alawites, a minority some Sunnis see as heretics.The Alawite sect of Shia Islam has the second highest religious following in the Syrian Arab Republic and remains at the heart of the Assad regime's grassroot support.The Houthi and Hezbollah interventions in Syria, both Shiite armies, and Iran's backing of Assad further points to sectarian motivations.The only Sufi movement to clearly side with the revolution is the Zayd movement