Egypt 1st-Hand: The Immersion in Political Violence (Hill)

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Amid the hours of violent street battles near the Cairo headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood on Friday, one moment stood out, captured by Shorouk newspaper photographer Sabry Khaled.

A young man dressed in blue and black track pants and a blue hooded sweatshirt with a bandana around his face points a hand gun at a bearded man he holds by the shoulder as both run through the street. Other young men who stand nearby, one of whom holds a rock, look uninterested or are not watching at all. The bearded man’s face, though half-turned toward his attacker and away from the camera, grimaces in anticipation.

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Syria Video Feature: The Agony of Aleppo's Children

Britain's Channel 4 features the work of filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen, who spent several weeks meeting children in an Aleppo hospital:

Syria Audio Analysis: An Opposition in Crisis? --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

Moaz al-KhatibFollowing up our EA analysis, I spoke with Monocle 24's The Briefing yesterday about the tensions within the opposition, marked by the resignation of the head of the Syrian National Coalition, Moaz al-Khatib, and what happens next.

Listen to discussion, from 5:50 mark, on The Briefing's homepage, or in a pop-out window.

The take-away lines: "These events are a huge threat to the opposition and --- with the Arab League's meeting today, which could have recognised the Coalition as the representative of the Syrian people --- the timing is awful.The process has been stalled, and it may be undone, with no vision of what is to follow."

And this: "Meanwhile the key factor --- let's be honest here --- the key factor is what is happening on the ground in Syria. If the insurgents continues to make advances, the politics will have to follow that."

Syria Live Coverage: Who Represents the Opposition?

1840 GMT: Rebel Victories Outside Damascus. In Otaybah (map), site of last week's reported chemical attack, the rebels have been killing Assad tanks and beating back his attacks for days. Today, they destroyed more tanks and armored vehicles

What's interesting - the fighter in the video is holding an M 79 Osa, one of the Croatian weapons that is part of the shipment from the international effort to arm the Syrian rebels:

#Syria #Damascus Rebels destroyed several tanks in #Otaybahhere BMP youtube.com/watch?v=S6vYbp…wikimapia.org/#lat=33.486847…

— Mark (@markito0171) March 25, 2013

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Writes from Prison

See also EA Video Special: Intelligence, the Iraq War, and What's Next --- Key Questions and Some Answers
Saudi Arabia Feature: Regime's Historic Decision "To Ban Everything"
Syria Live Coverage: Who Represents the Opposition?
Sunday's Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Restarting Negotiations?

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1950 GMT: Libya. Oman has granted the late leader Muammar Gaddafi’s widow and her family asylum on humanitarian grounds, an official at the Foreign Ministry has said.

The move was co-ordinated with Libya and Algeria, where the Qaddafis had lived after the fall of the Libyan ruler, following a pledge by the family that they will not use Oman as a base for political or media activity.

The group --- Qaddafi’s widow Safiyyah Farkash, daughter Aisha and sons Mohammad and Hannibal, as well as their children --- has been living in Oman since October 2012, and their expenses are being covered entirely by the Omani Government.

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Saudi Arabia Feature: Regime's Historic Decision "To Ban Everything" (Karl ReMarks)

In an unprecedented move in modern governance, Saudi Arabia announced today that it will introduce a ban on everything. The announcement has sent shockwaves throughout the kingdom and the Middle East, leaving many governments wondering ‘why didn’t we think of that first?’ The new rule is expected to revolutionise governance in this part of the world, and may indeed have wider repercussions.

The announcement was made early on Sunday morning by a Saudi official in a press conference, expected to be the last of its kind because press briefings will automatically be banned when the ban takes effect.

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EA Video Special: Intelligence, the Iraq War, and What's Next --- Key Questions and Some Answers

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Last week, we featured extracts from an interview with Steve Hewitt, one of the world's top specialists on intelligence services and counter-terrorism, about the place of "intelligence" in the drive to the 2003 Iraq War.

This is the full discussion, ranging from the significance of intelligence to the way that politicians manipulated it to create the reasons for the War to the possibility that this could be done again.

Iran Live Coverage: "America is Seeking Revenge"

See also Sunday's Iran Live Coverage: Worrying About Syria

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2034 GMT: Election Watch. Just as he did in the 2009 Presidential election, candidate and former Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaei has put the economy and the Guards' role in it at the center of his campaign.

In an interview on his Tabnak news site, "Economics Is Not Solved By Reading A Couple of Books and Chanting Slogans", Rezaei praised the role of the Revolutionary Guards in building the country. During the 1980s and 1990s, he said, Iran's enemies had sought a cultural and economic war with Tehran --- for that reason the IRGC began its reconstruction program, which included road and dam-building, construction projects, and oil and gas pipelines.

Promoting the Guards' concept of "self-sufficiency jihad" to boost national production amid current challenges, Rezaei said the Islamic Republic needed people to enter the economy to "combat the enemy who is threatening Iran, and who won't even allow us to sell our Iranian oil".

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Iranians must "find ways to fight this economic war," Rezaei said. "Iran's enemies are trying in every possible way to blockade and sanction Iran."

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Syria Analysis: An Opposition in Disarray

Moaz al-KhatibThe reasons for the in-fighting and divisions may be unclear --- the supposed explanations are more extensions-by-rumour of the in-fighting, rather than measured analysis --- but the effect is more than evident.

Even as key players in the international community have been moving aggressively, albeit behind the scenes, to consolidate support for a political and military challenge to the Assad regime, the stark question --- which was always there, but which elevated itself on Sunday --- remains:

Who represents that opposition?

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Syria Live Coverage: Regime Rejects UN Human Rights Enquiry

Claimed footage of "liberation" of Saham near Golan Heights by insurgents on Saturday

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Life in Islamist-Controlled Raqqa
Syria Debate: Does the "Free Syrian Army" Exist?
Israel, Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: US Restarting Negotiations?
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in Aleppo and near Damascus

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1749 GMT: Opposition Leader Resigns. The Syrian National Coalition has refused the resignation of its head, Moaz al-Khatib, asking him to go back to his work.

1719 GMT: Attacks in Damascus. Journalist Alex Thomson reports that insurgents have hit State television in the capital:

Two mortars have hit STV building and carpark. Some damage and vehicles destroyed.

— alex thomson (@alextomo) March 24, 2013

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