So even if Nasrallah did not use sectarian language, foreign correspondents and editors manage to insert sectarian qualifications and additions: "“Our fighters, our mujahedeen, are present on Syrian soil,” Mr. Nasrallah declared, adding that they were in Syria also to support Lebanon and Palestinian causes, “to confront all the dangers of the international, regional and takfiri attack on this country and on this region.” Takfiri refers to the extremist Sunni fighters aligned with Al Qaeda who have joined the attempt to overthrow Mr. Assad. The Syrian leader is a close ally of Shiite-led Iran, Hezbollah’s patron, and is from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. The civil war, which has claimed more than 110,000 lives and forced millions of Syrians to flee their homes, has deepened the polarization between Sunnis and Shiites in many parts of the Middle East. "