Post by Editor on Jun 14, 2013 8:13:29 GMT
Could Syria ignite World War 3? That's the terrifying question as the hatred between two Muslim ideologies sucks in the world's superpowers
Syrian conflict could engulf region in struggle between Sunni and Shia
Already claimed 93,000 lives and made 1.6million people refugees
UK, France and U.S. taken different side to China and Russia
By MICHAEL BURLEIGH
PUBLISHED: 23:03, 13 June 2013 | UPDATED: 23:03, 13 June 2013
The crisis in Syria may appear to be no more or less than a civil war in a country many people would struggle to place on a map.
But it’s much more than that: it is rapidly becoming a sectarian struggle for power that is bleeding across the Middle East, with the potential to engulf the entire region in a deadly power struggle between two bitterly opposed Muslim ideologies, Sunni and Shia.
Already, the war inside Syria has resulted in 93,000 dead and 1.6 million refugees, with millions more displaced internally. And those figures are escalating rapidly amid reports of appalling atrocities on both sides.
The Syrian crisis has potential to engulf the entire region in a power struggle between Sunni and Shia
Syria is surrounded by countries in the Middle East that have allegiances to either Assad's regime or the rebels
The conflict started in 2011 with peaceful protests against the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the seemingly mild successor to his father Hafez, who between 1970 and 2000 ruled Syria with a rod of iron.
Hafez’s response to dissent from the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood was to wipe out a town of 20,000 people.
More...
Syria death toll stands at 93,000, with 5,000 people dying every month, says the UN
Islamic group shoot dead Syrian 14-year-old boy in front of his parents for blasphemy after saying 'he wouldn't even give the Prophet a free coffee'
Is America about to start arming Syrian rebels? Kerry scraps visit to Israel as U.S. prepares to decide
Fearing that Syria faced the kind of protests that had toppled the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya during the ‘Arab Spring’, Bashar al-Assad’s security forces used tanks and gunfire to crush the demonstrations. But it only stoked the fires.
The opposition developed into an armed insurgency, and now Syria has been engulfed in a civil war which has degenerated into a vicious sectarian conflict.
On one side are those who follow President Assad, who belongs to the Alawites — a splinter sect from Shia Islam.
On the other are a loose affiliation of insurgents drawn from the majority Sunni population, some of whom have close links to the Sunni jihadists of Al Qaeda.
The level of savagery is appalling. This week, up to 60 Shia Muslims were reported to have been slaughtered in an attack by opposition fighters in the eastern Syrian city of Hatla.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341340/Could-Syria-ignite-World-War-3-Thats-terrifying-question-hatred-Muslim-ideologies-sucks-worlds-superpowers.html#ixzz2WAzMgAF5
Follow us: @mailonline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Syrian conflict could engulf region in struggle between Sunni and Shia
Already claimed 93,000 lives and made 1.6million people refugees
UK, France and U.S. taken different side to China and Russia
By MICHAEL BURLEIGH
PUBLISHED: 23:03, 13 June 2013 | UPDATED: 23:03, 13 June 2013
The crisis in Syria may appear to be no more or less than a civil war in a country many people would struggle to place on a map.
But it’s much more than that: it is rapidly becoming a sectarian struggle for power that is bleeding across the Middle East, with the potential to engulf the entire region in a deadly power struggle between two bitterly opposed Muslim ideologies, Sunni and Shia.
Already, the war inside Syria has resulted in 93,000 dead and 1.6 million refugees, with millions more displaced internally. And those figures are escalating rapidly amid reports of appalling atrocities on both sides.
The Syrian crisis has potential to engulf the entire region in a power struggle between Sunni and Shia
Syria is surrounded by countries in the Middle East that have allegiances to either Assad's regime or the rebels
The conflict started in 2011 with peaceful protests against the authoritarian regime of Bashar al-Assad, the seemingly mild successor to his father Hafez, who between 1970 and 2000 ruled Syria with a rod of iron.
Hafez’s response to dissent from the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood was to wipe out a town of 20,000 people.
More...
Syria death toll stands at 93,000, with 5,000 people dying every month, says the UN
Islamic group shoot dead Syrian 14-year-old boy in front of his parents for blasphemy after saying 'he wouldn't even give the Prophet a free coffee'
Is America about to start arming Syrian rebels? Kerry scraps visit to Israel as U.S. prepares to decide
Fearing that Syria faced the kind of protests that had toppled the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya during the ‘Arab Spring’, Bashar al-Assad’s security forces used tanks and gunfire to crush the demonstrations. But it only stoked the fires.
The opposition developed into an armed insurgency, and now Syria has been engulfed in a civil war which has degenerated into a vicious sectarian conflict.
On one side are those who follow President Assad, who belongs to the Alawites — a splinter sect from Shia Islam.
On the other are a loose affiliation of insurgents drawn from the majority Sunni population, some of whom have close links to the Sunni jihadists of Al Qaeda.
The level of savagery is appalling. This week, up to 60 Shia Muslims were reported to have been slaughtered in an attack by opposition fighters in the eastern Syrian city of Hatla.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2341340/Could-Syria-ignite-World-War-3-Thats-terrifying-question-hatred-Muslim-ideologies-sucks-worlds-superpowers.html#ixzz2WAzMgAF5
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