Civil war looming in Syria

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- There is a serious risk that the military crackdown on civilian protesters in Syria could spark a civil war, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights said.

The United Nations recently raised the death toll in Syria to 3,500 since an uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in mid-March.

Damascus said it agreed to an Arab proposal to pull its military hardware off the streets, though the United Nations said dozens have been killed in Syria since the Arab meeting last week in Cairo.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the U.N. Security Council that when peaceful demands are met by violence, people often turn to rebellion.

"More and more soldiers refuse to become complicit in international crimes and are changing sides (in Syria,)" she said. "There is a serious risk of Syria descending into armed struggle."

One soldier who defected told al-Jazeera on condition of anonymity that some were trying to protect the protesters from attacks by pro-regime forces.

"We have clashes with whoever tries to attack the civilians, or tries to kill or terrorize the citizens," he said.

The Arab broadcaster notes that Syrian opposition groups remain divided along pro- and anti-interventionist camps.