Alawites form only 12% of the population, but have a stranglehold on power and will fight to the end for the regime.
UN decides to end its mission to Syria, as regime troops continue to kill people across the country including "rebels", civilians, woman and children.
Totalitarianism has been programmed into the Syrian population for generations, writes Nadim Shehadi.
Iran never misses a chance to parade internationally and has been buoyed by suggestions that it may join global powers reviving Syrian peace efforts.
The crisis in Syria has deepened after the US publicly accused Russia of giving attack helicopters to President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.
Syrian forces have continued shelling Al-Haffe, sparking fears of an impending massacre, while the UN demands that its observers be granted access.
The new head of Syria’s main opposition group has called for mass defections from a Syrian regime struggling to survive by carrying out massacres.
Syrian violence killed at least 12 people on Sunday, bringing the death toll of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad to more than 14 100.
Rebels fought Syrian forces in the heaviest fighting in Damascus since the 15-month-old uprising began.
UN envoy Ban Ki-moon says the Syrian regime has "lost its fundamental humanity" and no longer has any legitimacy after the massacre of 90 villagers.
Kofi Annan has warned that an all-out war looms in Syria, holding President Bashar al-Assad as the first responsible to act to end the conflict.
President Barack Obama has expressed "regret" at his inadvertent use of the erroneous term "Polish death camp" in a letter to his Polish counterpart.
The South African government has come under fire for its apparent failure to act against Syria for alleged human rights violations.
Atrocities such as the killing of children become an ordinary act of violence with a sectarian component.
South African political analysts have explained the country’s low-key stance on Syria as a mix of overcompensation and awkwardness.
UN observers say 13 bodies have been discovered bound and shot in eastern Syria, days after a massacre of 108 civilians ignited a world outcry.
Kofi Annan has told President Bashar al-Assad that a halt to violence will be required for his six-point peace plan to succeed.
The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned the use of heavy weapons in Syria’s Houla after the deaths of more than 100 civilians.
The leader of Shi’ite group Hezbollah has appealed for calm after people blocked roads in Beirut to protest the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shi’ites.
The United Nations has plans to collect a monitoring team from a Syrian town after they spent the night in the hands of rebels following an attack.
Clashes between regime forces and rebels in Syria has killed 23 Syrian soldiers and wounded dozens as the EU slaps fresh sanctions on the regime.
Syria has been accused of killing at least 95 civilians and destroying hundreds of houses in Idlib, in a last-minute dash before the ceasefire was called.
As Syria embarks on a peace plan, news has emerged of state forces summarily executing civilians and rebels. The M&G has obtained footage of two witnesses.