ANALYSIS - Defections test Assad's ability to sustain crackdown

AMMAN (Reuters) - Cracks in Syria's military are widening along sectarian lines, say analysts, fuelling an armed mutiny that may pose an even greater threat to President Bashar al-Assad than the street protests which have rocked the country for months.

Diplomats and military experts say army cohesiveness is fraying and defections increasing as the leadership, largely from the minority Alawite sect, sends troops out to crush unrest across the mainly Sunni Muslim country of 20 million.