Syrian Stand-Off
The decision of the Arab League to pull its peace monitors out of Syria - suggest that things are about to get even more ugly.
President Bashar al-Assad stands at the head of an unrepresentative government - drawn largely from a narow section of the population - the Alawite, Shia Muslim, minority.
Which is the opposite situation which prevailed in Iraq for years - when Saddam Hussein ruled the country with a rod of iron - from his power base amongst the Sunni Muslim minority.
But while Iraq - with all its problems - has managed to create a power sharing government which looks relatively stable - the Syrian President has dug in and refused to introduce much needed political reforms.
Colonel Gaddafi did the same in Libya - of course - as did Hosni Mubarak in Egypt - with the former dying a humiliating death while the latter is on trial for his life.
The opposition in Syria looks to be slowly building support and consolidating its position - in many towns and cities.
One of the yesterday's newspapers reported that a group of Iranian snipers - sent in to support the Syrian government - had been captured and taken prisoner by opposition forces.
So the country may erupt into a full-scale civil war at any moment - and with the government forces much more heavily armed - the result could be a bloodbath.
The solution appears obvious - the creation of a new, power sharing government which reflects all strands of society.
But this would go against the grain of a political culture which is both tribal and often feudal - in its outlook.
Whether the United Nations can do anything practical remains to be seen - in conjunction with the Arab League.
At the moment you would have to say that the omens - are not good.
