This Reuters article at Yahoo News is further evidence of the possibility of a wider Middle East war between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims and their allies, in this case, the Alawites. The U.N.-Arab League mediator says as much.
Shia and Alawites are allies entirely of the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" variety, I'm certain the ayatollahs of Shia Iran consider Syria's Alawites as much heretics as they do the region's Sunnis, their major threat.
