Army brutality leading to Bosnia-style conflict in Syria

Few close observers of the Syrian conflict believe the uprising that began nearly a year ago is anything like over, and nor do they believe that President Bashar al-Assad can use the siege of Homs as a springboard to regain full control of the country. In briefs

Few close observers of the Syrian conflict believe the uprising that began nearly a year ago is anything like over, and nor do they believe that President Bashar al-Assad can use the siege of Homs as a springboard to regain full control of the country.

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Syrian troops entered the ruins of Baba Amro, the rebel enclave in Homs that succumbed to month of artillery and tank bombardment, amid loyalist claims that Assad had broken the back of a Western-sponsored terror campaign against his government.

Yet some experts believe the authorities' brutality will lead to a drawn-out Bosnia-style war as well as the further militarisation of a conflict that began as a civil uprising inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

"The Syrian regime has won one battle in a war it is not guaranteed to win," said Nabil Boumonsef, a columnist at Beirut's an-Nahar newspaper. "It took the Syrian forces one month of siege to enable them to enter Baba Amro district - this is not a sweeping military victory."