Depending on your point of view Syria is either a rogue state run by an authoritarian regime or a champion of the Arab cause. But what's not in dispute is that the war in neighbouring Lebanon has drastically altered the balance of power in this region and radicalized opinion in Syria. One of Syria's leading Sunni clerics Sheikh Mohammed Habbash stated that his people are now calling for the creation of a Syrian Hezbollah-style militia to retake the Golan Heights - Syrian territory occupied by Israel since the 1967 war.
Everywhere in Damascus there are portraits of Hafaz and Bashar al Assad the father-son dynasty that's ruled this country with an iron fist for more than 35 years. But now their official portraits have been joined by posters of a bearded Lebanese cleric: Hassan Nasrallah - leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, self proclaimed victor of a month long war that shattered the myth of Israel's invincibility. The yellow flags of Hezbollah fly everywhere. Now, former Presidential adviser turned regime critic Ayman Abdel Nour, fears the growing power of Islamic extremists who are attempting to exploit the mood.
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