Syria Snap Analysis: As The World Talked in Geneva, The People Were Blown Apart in Zamalka

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On Saturday afternoon, as I was following the outcome of the international meeting in Geneva, the video came in from the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. As I watched the 100 seconds, all assessment of the rhetoric and diplomacy from Switzerland was pushed aside; instead, I had to hold myself together to make it to the end of the clip while considering whether or not to post the footage on EA.

The images were of bodies in the street, blown and shredded by the force of a large explosion. The first casualty was bearable enough --- if death is bearable --- but then there was a second, third, and fourth, each one in a bloodier and more agonised state.

In the end, I counted almost a dozen bodies and concluded that a link to the video would have to do --- I could not bring myself to put the carnage directly on EA

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An International Gathering in Geneva

The moment a mortar or shell hit a funeral procession in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka today --- at least 20 people were reportedly killed (see 1800 GMT)

See also Saudi Arabia Feature: The Professor on Trial for Speaking Out
Syria 1st-Hand: The Stories of the Widows
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 139 Die as Assad Talks of "Eliminating Terrorists" to Save Lives

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2104 GMT: Syria Observers on the Internet appear to be racing ahead of the situation to proclaim US support of military intervention.

The catalyst is a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the US would "accelerate" its work at the United Nation Security Council on a resolution that would "impose real and immediate consequences for non-compliance" with today's resolution of an international conference for a transitional national unity government, "including sanctions". She continued, "We should endorse this plan in the Security Council, we should endorse it with real consequences, including Chapter 7 sanctions if it is not implemented."

A Chapter 7 action provides for non-military sanctions and/or military action, but chatter is jumping to the presumption that Clinton is indicating the latter.

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The Latest from Iran (30 June): "Talk to Us"

See also Iran 1st-Hand: The Squeeze of the Sanctions
The Latest from Iran (29 June): The Pressure Builds

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1822 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A letter signed by 141 Iranian journalists has expressed support for their detained colleague, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui.

The journalists express concern that Ahmadi Amoui was imprisoned for his critical articles on the economy, noting his exile to Rajai Shahr Prison and transfer to solitary confinement.

Ahmadi Amoui was arrested just after the June 2009 Presidential election. He was sentenced in January 2010 to seven years and four months in prison.

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Iran 1st-Hand: The Squeeze of the Sanctions (Davari)

Leila is getting pretty good at playing Angry Birds on her imported iPhone. Sitting behind her desk in an idle travel agency in central Tehran, she often has nothing better to do these days.

 "As you can see, business isn't so good," she says, gesturing at the drab, empty office.

"Last summer, I was constantly on the phone arguing with customers why there were no last-minute tickets available. Now, on a good day --- if we're lucky --- we might barely get to sell to capacity on a flight."

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Saudi Arabia Feature: The Professor on Trial for Speaking Out (Lippmann)

Mohammad Al-Qahtani (Photo: Hassan Ammar/Toronto Star)What are the limits of free speech and open dissent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? They are often unclear and seemingly arbitrary, but there is no doubt that Dr. Mohammad al-Qahtani, a professor and activist, went well beyond them, and he knew it. He was hardly surprised when Saudi prosecutors, finally fed up with his vociferous denunciations of the regime, hit him with a long list of criminal charges. He had predicted it, and in the context of Saudi Arabia, he was asking for it.

“Make no mistake,” he said shortly before a recent procedural hearing on his case. “We are all going to prison.” By “we” he meant himself and two colleagues in the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, perhaps the most outspoken and daring agitators for human rights and personal freedom in the kingdom.

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Syria 1st-Hand: The Stories of the Widows (Sutton)

Photo: Tara Sutton/The GuardianI didn't find out the day he died. My family told me gradually. They told me "your husband was shot" and then they told me he might have passed away. Two days after he died, they finally told me that he had been killed. I felt that I lost a piece of my heart. I told my eldest, Ahmed, myself, but the neighbours had to tell the youngest.

I am proud that he was killed for a good cause and he was not a traitor to his country or his people. The Koran says: "Those who are killed fighting for the cause of God are alive and not dead."

I am surviving with the help of God and I have a strong personality. I don't like to collapse in front of my kids. If I fall apart, what will happen to them?

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The Latest from Iran (29 June): The Pressure Builds

See also The Latest from Iran (28 June): A Failing Foreign Policy?

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1945 GMT: Oil Watch. A South Korean official has said that Iran offered to supply oil to Seoul in its own tankers, after European Union sanctions threatened to cut South Korean purchases of Iranian crude.

South Korean officials indicated earlier this week that Seoul would halt shipments from 1 July because of the lack of insurance cover on tankers. That cover is provided by European companies, who will suspend service as EU sanctions take effect.

1745 GMT: Foreign Affairs Watch (Syrian Front). Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament's National Security Committee, has called Turkey’s decisions in the Syrian crisis "hasty" and demanded that Ankara show restraint and patience over the conflict.

Boroujerdi asserted that Turkey should engage in talks with other regional countries to help restore Syria’s stability instead of stoking insecurity.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 139 Die as Assad Talks of "Eliminating Terrorists" to Save Lives

1834 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, a network of activists, 54 people have been killed so far today:

13 martyrs were reported in Homs; 11 in Deir Ezzor; 10 in Hama, most of whom were martyred in the Souran massacre; 6 in Aleppo; 5 in Daraa; 4 in Idlib; 3 in Damascus Suburbs,1 in Damascus and 1 in Jableh.

1828 GMT: Syria. These fighters in the Free Syrian Army claim to have destroyed 12 armored vehicles in Khan as Subil, Idlib (map).

They also claim to have captured the BMP armored vehicle, visible in the bottom of the frame:

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Sudan Primer: Happy Elbow Lick Day? Activists Look to Expand Protests

The activist call for support for today's protests

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After almost two weeks of protests in the capital Khartoum and other cities,  fostered by the regime's austerity measures, Sudan's activists hope to increase the numbers on the streets today.

The regime's security apparatus has started to flex its muscles in response. The opposition claims hundreds have been arrested so far, including bloggers, human rights activists, and members of the influential organisation Girifna. Some foreign journalists have been expelled, and there are reports of limitation and cut-off of the Internet.  In the circumstances, some protesters have been sheltering in safe houses. 

The opposition is defiant, however as the title of today's demonstration, Elbow Lick Day, testifies. It is a "tribute" to President Bashir, who said this week that it would be easier to "lick your elbow" than to remove him from power.

Sudan has flirted with joining the Arab Spring twice in the past 18 months. Whether this occasion will be the lasting spark is far from certain. However, it is likely to show that the Bashir regime is not immune from the calls for democracy and justice. 

Developments can be followed on Twitter via the hashtag #SudanRevolts.

US Feature: Why Has a Florida Professor Endured House Arrest since 2003? (Al-Arian)

Sami al-ArianMy father, Sami Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida, was indicted on fifty-three counts of supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which had been designated by the government as a terrorist group. The conspiracy case, which involved three other Palestinian men, was based largely on my father’s charitable contributions, associations, speeches and other First Amendment–protected activities. Prosecutors would introduce as evidence books my father owned, magazines he edited, conferences he organized and, particularly bizarre, a dream one of his co-defendants had about him. My father faced multiple life sentences plus 225 years if convicted. The charges against him included conspiracy to kill and maim persons abroad, yet prosecutors freely admitted that my father had no connection to any violence.

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