Syria: Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein: The latest spiral of violence which has claimed more than 240 lives in the past week carries the hallmarks of the two sides that brought nearly nonstop chaos to Iraq for years: Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida's branch in Iraq, and Shiite militias defending their newfound power after Saddam Hussein's fall, according to Times Colonist. The Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must balance its close ties with Iran the main regional ally of Syria's Bashar Assad and its position among fellow Arab League members and neighbouring Turkey, which strongly back Syria's mainly Sunni opposition and BAGHDAD - Iraq's wave of bloodshed sharply escalated Monday with more than a dozen car bombings across the country, part of attacks that killed at least 95 people and brought echoes of past sectarian carnage and fears of a dangerous spillover from Syria's civil war next door. But the widening shadow and regional brinksmanship from Syria's conflict now increasingly threaten to feed into Iraq's sectarian strife, heightening concerns that Iraq could be turning toward civil war. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.