Enemies of Syria seeking to spark sectarian strife

Those who are seeking to topple the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have resorted to sectarian strife to further fuel unrest in Syria, a senior Iranian lawmaker cautioned. "The fire that was started in Syria more than two years ago can only be fueled through fomenting divisions between Shiites and Sunnis, and those who support the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad are well aware of that; therefore, they are trying to provoke terrorists whose identity and religion are not known to fan the flames of anti-Assad fire," member of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Seyed Baqer Hosseini said on Thursday. He pointed to gruesome videos showing the atrocities committed by foreign-backed militants in Syria, and stated that the terrorists' crimes "reveal the identity of their masters." A video posted online on Sunday showed a militant in Syria cutting out some of the organs of a Syrian soldier and biting into one. Human Rights Watch, which also validated the video, said that the act constituted a war crime. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.