Syria has suffered its worst bloodshed since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power, with more than 1,000 people reported killed in violence that has swept the coastal region since Thursday.

Lebanon could be on the brink of a “massive” new refugee crisis if massacres of the Alawite minority in Syria continue, Lebanese MP Haydar Nasr has told The National. Independent MP Mr Nasr, who comes from the Alawite community in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli,

Once empowered by the regime, many Alawites now face reprisals from rebel factions and displaced Sunni populations who suffered under Assad's rule.