The Syrian civil war is no longer a war for democracy and freedom from dictatorship. It has morphed into an all out sectarian conflict that is bleeding out of its borders, profusely.
More and more, neighboring Arabic countries are becoming divided and taking up arms to defend their own. The Sunnis are becoming militant for their own and starting to clash with Shi'a in Jordan and Lebanon.
Some of them are forming militias that are poised to travel to Syria in greater and greater numbers, to help the Sunnis, who are identified with the insurgency.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Lebanon, Sunni and Shia are clashing over their separate beliefs.
The Shia, represented by Hezbollah, have already joined in the Syrian conflict long ago, but are on the side of Assad, who is an Alawite. And now the Sunni feel that it is their duty to follow them and help the insurgency.
The fractures in the Middle East are starting to widen. Just yesterday, six people were killed in the coastal city of Tripoli. 40 were taken to the hospital. Many more were wounded and killed in the recent past in similar riots.
In Tripoli there is a discreet Alawite presence, and a good majority of Sunnis. The Sunnis for their part, see Assad as the culprit for their misery, as the area is becoming destabilized and more and more refugees clog the border and impinge on an already unstable economy.
But now the clashes, which had been sporadic and controllable, are starting to take a different turn. They are becoming persistent and risk becoming a conflict within itself, inside the Lebanese territory.
Schools and shops have been shut down and the police are trying to bring order back to the city.
Across the border, lies the city of Qusair, a place where the insurgents had been able to keep a foothold until the Assad offensive. And Tripoli is in the crossfire. The offensive has spilled over and Tripoli is being shelled while the Qusair battle rages on. Qusair is very important to the insurgency, because it is their only conduit for re-arming and provisions.
Lebanon, for its part, has never forgotten the three decades it had to live under Syria's heel. And the 1985 conflict between Syria and Lebanon still echoes loudly.
It remains to be seen if the sectarian strife can be contained.
Source : France 24/ 5.23.13
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