UN: Syria War Could Outlast Assad

December 20, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

The Syrian civil war has become so sectarian that fighting could continue for years even if Bashar al-Assad relinquished power tomorrow, United Nations investigators warn in a bleak assessment of the conflict. Foreign fighters are pouring in to aid Sunni rebels and Assad's Alawite sect.

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Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Sectarianism

Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination, or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political mo... Explore this topic

Bashar al-Assad

Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the President of Syria and Regional Secretary of the Syrian-led branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He has served as President since 2000, when he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 30 years prior to his death. Al-Assa... Explore this topic

Alawite

The Alawites, also known as Alawis, Nusayris and Ansaris are a prominent mystical religious group centred in Syria who follow a branch of the Twelver school of Shia Islam. They were long persecuted for their beliefs by the various rulers of Syria, until Hafez al-Assad took pow... Explore this topic

Syrian people

The Syrian people are the inhabitants and citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic. While modern-day Syrians are commonly described as Arabs by virtue of their modern-day language and bonds to Arab culture and history, they are, in fact, largely a blend of the various Aramaic, Ara... Explore this topic

Hezbollah

Hezbollah — also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc. — is a Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party based in Lebanon. It receives financial and political support from Iran and Syria, and its paramilitary wing is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much ... Explore this topic

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam; its adherents are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhlu-s-Sunnati wa-l-Jamāʿah, "people of the tradition of Muhammad and the consensus of the Ummah" or ʾAhlu-s-Sunnah. For short, in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis, Sunnites... Explore this topic

Free Syrian Army

The Free Syrian Army is an armed opposition structure operating in Syria during the Syrian civil war. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers, its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of dese... Explore this topic

United Nations

The United Nations is the world's largest, foremost, and most prominent international organization. The stated aims of the United Nations include promoting and facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human r... Explore this topic

Also See

Syrian Civil War

Syria

Sectarianism

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