The Syrian government has blamed sectarian tensions for the protests sweeping the country, with observers saying that it is the regime itself that is behind the strife, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus The city of Homs, the third-largest in Syria by population and the largest by geographical area, became a battleground last week in what the authorities described as an outbreak of sectarian conflict, something rejected by residents and observers across the political and ethnic spectrum, who described the regime itself as having been behind the alleged sectarian strife. The corpses of three men from Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's own Alawite sect were found in Homs early last week, their bodies having been disfigured before being dumped in the street. The official media painted the killings as a sectarian crime, claiming that armed gangs were killing people based on their religious or ethnic belonging. Opposition activists said that more than 80 people had been killed in the city over the three days after the bodies had been found, most of them Sunnis. Dozens of shops were torched in Sunni and Alawite districts, and graffiti in Sunni areas threatened further killings based on sectarian belonging, as did similar graffiti in Alawite districts. The Syrian military and security forces issued a statement declaring that they would "strike with an iron fist to end the sectarian killings threatening Syria", and the Ministry of Religious Endowments issued a statement demanding an "end to the strife and a ban on demonstrations." However, opposition activists in Homs said that the three men had been killed by the security forces, and they accused the country's security agencies of killing people and burning shops in Sunni and Alawite districts. The agencies were using these methods, the activists said, to incite sectarian incidents as a way of cowing the population and softening up the situation in Homs in advance of a military strike. Homs has been the target of fierce assaults by the Syrian security forces over the past two weeks, and the city's population is made up of various ethnic and religious groups. The Sunnis and Alawites are the main Muslim groups in the city, and they are at the centre of allegations of sectarian violence. Up to now, Homs has been known for the peaceful coexistence of its various religious and ethnic groups, and it has been the hometown of several Syrian presidents and political leaders. Syrian writers and intellectuals have issued statements asking Homs resident not to respond to sectarian incitements and alleging that those who carried out the atrocities were not from Homs. Homs residents and local youth activists have come together to resist pressures towards sectarian strife, declaring the city's unity in confronting the regime. The Union of Homs Districts issued a statement saying that the attacks had been carried out by death squads in the pay of the security forces, describing them as "crimes against humanity" and pointing the finger of blame at President Al-Assad. The statement went on to say that city districts still loyal to the regime "are innocent of the regime's crimes", and that the protesters would not give in to calls to "battle against their brothers and neighbours". The city's Alawite youth organisation issued a statement blaming the regime and its death squads for the events in Homs, saying that the events had been "a desperate attempt by the regime to snuff out the revolution and transform it into a civil conflict." "Despotism," the statement said, "knows no religion or sect." Accusing the Alawites of unconditional loyalty to the regime only "serves the interests of the regime, which is trying to manipulate sectarianism for its own interests," the statement said. The Syrian opposition said that the regime was trying to control the crisis in the country by claiming that the protests were the result of sectarian conflict, whereas in fact, the opposition said, it was the security agencies that had been fueling the tensions. The opposition called on the Syrian people to exercise restraint and not to be "sucked into sectarian battles that the regime has been trying to instigate since the beginning of the protests, in order to stifle the aspirations of the Syrian people for a civilian and democratic state." Opposition observers say that since the early days of the demonstrations, the regime has relied on the country's "silent minorities" to remain in power by reinforcing their fears of sectarian strife. The country's security agencies, such observers say, have focused on trying to divide the Syrian people, painting the anti-regime demonstrations in sectarian colours. For its part, the regime has accused the demonstrators of being Salafis, infiltrators, foreign conspirators or religious fundamentalists, attempting to panic people into believing that they are under threat from neighbours belonging to a different religious sect or ethnic background. Ten days after the protests broke out, presidential adviser Bothayna Shaaban said that they were part of a "sectarian plot" against Syria and had nothing to do with peaceful protest. "The coexistence of different religious groups in Syria is the primary target" of the plot, Shaaban said. Her statements were widely criticised by observers, the country's opposition accusing the official media of fanning the flames of sectarianism and ignoring the fact that members of all the different ethnicities and religious groups in the country had taken part in the demonstrations. Regardless of religious or ethnic belonging, the opposition said, Syrians of all backgrounds had been the victims of dictatorship, and they demanded a pluralist and democratic state. According to Syrian human rights monitors, over the past four months more than 2,000 demonstrators have been killed across the country, mostly at the hands of death squads and the army and mostly from the majority Sunni sect, which represents some 70 per cent of the Syrian population. During the demonstrations, protesters have raised banners and chanted slogans rejecting violence and asserting national unity. Slogans chanted by the demonstrators have included "One, one, one... the Syrian people are one" and "one hand... Sunnis, Alawites and Christians make up one hand." Chanting has not been the only way the protesters have tried to reassure observers that they do not intend to stir up sectarian strife. One of the protests was called the "Friday of Sorrow" out of respect to a Christian religious festival, and other protests were labelled "Azadi Friday" in a message that the Kurds were genuine partners in the Syrian homeland. Another day of protest was dubbed "Saleh Al-Ali Friday," after a leader of the Syrian independence movement against colonial rule, who had been Alawite. Fayez Sara, a member of the opposition, said that Syria would not become embroiled in a civil conflict between Alawites and Sunnis. "The people of Syria are not sectarian, and their history bears witness to this," Sara said. "This has been confirmed by the protests, which have now entered their fifth month." Sara said that the threat of sectarian violence had been "concocted by the security agencies to manipulate the situation in their own interests." The regime would have to "comply with the demands of the people, because the crisis will not be resolved through security and sectarian solutions," Sara said.
