Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A New Dialogue?

Protesters chant against Egypt's Supreme Council of Armed Forces as they march on Monday to the prison where activist Alaa Abd-El Fattah is detained

See Also, Syria Special: Should We Treat Calls for a No-Fly Zone Seriously? (ZENKO)

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1850 GMT: According to a source in Bahrain, when detained teacher Jalila Al Salman was released from prison, she immediately joined a protest, organized by Al Wefaq, that was designed to press for her release. A photo gallery of the event can be found here.

1826 GMT: We have received this video, reportedly showing Syrian soldiers firing guns and rockets into the city of Hama. The video appears to be leaked, and it is very unclear when it was taken. As such, it's very hard to cross-verify this video with eyewitness reports, though there have been plenty of reports of violence over the last few weeks in Hama.

The LCCS had these reports from Hama today, though because this video is leaked, and undated, we don't know when the video was actually taken:

Hama: security forces are heavily spread in the Al-Amiriyeh neighborhood amid widespread detention campaign. Of the detainees is Amir Salha

Hama: Hayaleen: security forces raided the village in a major security force to arrest Sheikh Ammar Khaled Al-Mansour, Imam of Al-Kabeer mosque, and to terrorize the people

1817 GMT: Activists post this photo, the now-freed teacher Jalila Al Salman who was released today from a Bahraini prison, with her daughters:

1813 GMT: AFP is reporting that thousands of supporters of Syrian President Bashar al Assad gathered in Dier Ez Zor today. According to the report, a nearby anti-government rally was fired on by security forces before it could fully form.

1756 GMT: According to The Guardian, 7 people were killed in Syrian today, 3 in Homs alone.

The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria, which publicises the protests, said one person was killed in the Kafroma in Idlib. In the same province scores of armoured vehicles were seen surrounding a village where it was reported that defected troops had killed soldiers, it said.

Another of those killed died in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, where the government staged its for third pro-regime rally in as many weeks.

1557 GMT: The head of the Bahraini Indpendent Commission of Inquiry, whose report is due out on 23 November, has created a stir by saying he has found evidence of systematic abuse of detainees.

Several months ago Cherif Bassiouni, the head of the regime-appointed Commission, had said he did not believe maltreatment was systematic.

"It is not possible to justify torture in any way, and despite the small number of cases, it is clear there was a systematic policy," Bassiouni told Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm on Monday. "I investigated and I found 300 cases of torture and I was helped in that by legal experts from Egypt and America."

The Minister of Justice has responded by saying constitutional amendments for reforms, based on the results of a national dialogue, would be presented to Parliament after the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday next week.

1557 GMT: The Guardian reports that several journalists have gone missing in Syria. 31 year old business writer Lina Saleh Ibrahim business and freelance writer Wael Yousef Abaza both went missing on October 25, blogger Hussein Ghrer went missing on the 24th, and none have them have been heard from since. However, there are also several journalists in detention:

Several journalists have been detained by authorities since unrest erupted across Syria in March, and many remain in custody.

Three freelancers - Omar al-Assad, Rudy Othman and Hanadi Zahlout - were arrested on 4 August and have not been heard from since. A fourth, Amer Matar, was arrested on 3 September in Damascus.

All four remain in detention without charge.

1547 GMT: An EA source in Bahrain provides this update:

"BREAKING: according to the lawyer S.Alalawi, the detained teacher Jalila Al Salman has been released from jail and her family are in their way to pick her up from from Isa town prison."

1442 GMT: In Turkey, there have been more arrests of Kurdish activists who are accused of terrorism, including several high profile leaders:

An İstanbul court on Tuesday arrested 44 suspects, including Professor Büşra Ersanlı and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, on terrorism charges as part of an investigation into the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that allegedly encompasses the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its affiliated organizations.

Ersanlı and Zarakolu were taken to the Beşiktaş Courthouse on Monday along with 48 others who were detained on Friday by the İstanbul Police Department's counterterrorism unit.

Ersanlı, a member of the Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) Party Council and Constitutional Commission, Belge Publishing House representative Zarakolu and 48 others were interrogated by a prosecutor following a medical examination. The prosecutor referred 47 of them to court late on Monday, requesting their arrest and accusing the suspects of establishing a terrorist organization, leading a terrorist organization and being members of a terrorist organization.

See EA Correspondent's description of the current crisis, published on October 21: Turkey Analysis: As 10,000 Soldiers Pursue Kurds Inside Iraq, What Does "Big Revenge" Mean?

1432 GMT: Women protest outside Aleppo University in Syria:

1419 GMT: Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan has released another statement condemning the violence in Syria:

"Syria is living through a very grave phase; and regretfully We see many sides in the world supporting this injustice. Killing one single person is tantamount to killing all humanity. I regret to say that the Syrian regime is killing hundreds if not thousands of its own people. I reckon all of them are martyrs, simply for the reason that the regime killing them is not based on the the will of the people, yet using its massive military force to muzzle his people, rather than realizing their aspirations.

We have been friends with the Syria regime over 9 years; yet this regime does not appreciate it and dashed this friendly amicable relation; despite our repeated advice. The regime is still oppressing its people in Hammah, Homs, Deir Azzor and Deraa, it is a legacy I believe he (Bashar) has inherited from his father. We cannot remain silent for ever; we must take a stance. I believe the Syrian people will achieve the goals of their glorious revolution and struggle sooner or later."

So far this week, Turkey has condemned the violence, and the Arab League has reached some sort of "deal" with the Syrian government, though no details have been given. Still, as the situation in Syria is growing no less bloody, then what effect will all the talks and backroom negotiations really have? After all, the GCC reached an agreement with Yemen for months, but little has changed.

James Miller takes the blog.

1215 GMT: Officials and witnesses have reported that Syria is planting landmines along parts of the border with Lebanon.

A well-placed Syrian official said the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling.

1155 GMT: The upper chamber of Bahrain's National Assembly has accused members of the European Parliament of bias in their criticism of the regime's crackdown on on protests and demands for the release of detainees.

The Shura Council declared, ""The European Parliament has not approached the situation in a neutral or objective manner and those it defended have done actions that are rejected by the people of Bahrain and thus require action by the state against them,". It invited MEPs to visit Bahrain to get a full understanding of the situation on the ground.

1150 GMT: Protesters in Hama chant today to Syria's President Assad, "Come on, Bashar, leave":

1130 GMT: A video of protesters in Bahrain pouring motor oil on roads this morning to slow traffic:

1125 GMT: SEN News publishes a usual overview of Yemen's politics and tribalism by Khaled Fattah: "The failure of the Yemeni state to overcome tribalism is intimately linked to its failure to transform tribesmen into citizens. This failure is attributable, mainly, to state fragility and economic underdevelopment. The Yemeni state is so fragile that it lacks the basic infrastructural power to penetrate society, enforce it well and perform its core functions."

0925 GMT: We have reports that protesters blocked main roads in Bahrain this morning. This video claims to show police arresting and beating one of the men who tried to close a road in North Sehla.

0915 GMT: Hicham Safieddine, writing for Al-Akhbar English, outlines the case of Essam Ali Atta, the detainee who allegedly died last week after abuse by prison guards.

0905 GMT: According to Al Masry al-Youm, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said on Monday, "Egyptian revolutions throughout history have been a source of inspiration to Arabs everywhere, and all have benefited from their positive examples."

King Hamad was meeting Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, in Cairo.

0745 GMT: A British court has granted bail to Anglo-Canadian businessman Victor Dahdaleh, who is accused of bribing officials in Bahrain, including Sheikh Isa bin Ali al-Khalifa, a member of the royal family and son-in-law of Bahrain’s prime minister.

Dahdaleh, the chairman and owner of metals and chemicals firm Dadco and a trustee of the Clinton Foundation, has had close ties to Britain’s Labour Party. Among the claims are that he gave $6 million to Sheikh al-Khalifa for contracts between Bahrain’s state-owned aluminum manufacturer Alba and the U.S.-based Alcoa Inc.

0725 GMT: Libya’s Transitional National Council has selected Abdurrahim El Keib as interim Prime Minister,, replacing Mahmoud Jibril.

El Keib, an electrical engineer with extensive international experience and professor at the University of Tripoli, won 26 votes out of 51. He said that he expected to choose his Cabinet within two weeks: "This transition period has its own challenges. One thing we will be doing is working very closely with the NTC and listening to the Libyan people."

El Keib continued, "We salute and remember the revolutionaries who we will never forget. We will not forget their families. I say to them that the NTC did not and will not forget them and also the coming government will do the same."

Jibril had promised to step down after the "liberation" of Libya from the Qaddafi regime, which NTC head Mustafa Abdul Jalil did not put his name forward for the premiership.

0720 GMT: Images from the protest in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Monday for detained blogger/activist Alaa Abd-El Fattah:

0715 GMT: On Monday, another 13 people reportedly died at the hands of Syrian security forces. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports: "The Lebanese police have accused Syria of orchestrating the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents in Lebanon."

The newspaper cites the cases of 89-year-old Shibli al-Aisamy, 89, a founder of Syria’s governing Baath Party who became a leading voice of dissent and disappeared in late May, and three Syrian brothers, the Jassems, who were kidnapped in February by rogue members of the Lebanese security forces using Syrian Embassy vehicles.

The Times also noted the leaked report of testimony to the Lebanese Parliament this month by the head of the Internal Security Forces, Gen. Ashraf Rifi. He said Syria was behind both kidnappings and presented a detailed report with license plate numbers, cellphone records, and statements from witnesses which implicated Lebanese security officers and tracked the cars to the Syrian border.

On the political front, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, speaking in Libya, ruled out the possibility of military intervention: "My answer is very short. NATO has no intention (to intervene) whatsoever. I can completely rule that out."

Rasmussen continued, "Having said that, I strongly condemn the crackdown on the civilian population in Syria. What has happened in Libya sends a clear signal. You cannot neglect the will of the people."

The Arab League, in a "road map" for resolution, called for tanks to be withdrawn from Syrian streets and for talks in Cairo between the Assad regime and its opponents.

The League put the proposals to a Syrian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, during talks in Qatar on Sunday.

0705 GMT: Meanwhile in Bahrain, the opposition's "Freedom Torch" made it to Sanad on Monday afternoon, handed to the wife of Fadhel Al Matrook.

Al Matrook was killed by security forces as he attended the funeral of Ali Mushaimaa, the first person to die after the protests began on 14 February. Al Matrook's death was a catalyst for demonstrators to occupy Pearl Roundabout/Martyrs Square, the symbolic centre of the rising against the regime.

0645 GMT: We begin this morning with a report from an EA correspondent in Bahrain....

Nasser Al Fedalah, former MP and Deputy Secretargy General of the new society "The Gathering Of National Unity, has been tweeting about a new dialogue that the regime is preparing.

Dr Majid Al Alawi, who resigned as Minister of Labour after the crackdown on protests in March has also been tweeting this morning that conflicts must be solved by dialogue and not force: "If you can't end a major political conflict by sheer brutal force, you have to dialogue with the extremists. Northern Ireland is an example".

Al Alawi has the reputation of a good relationship with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa --- who in turn is considered the "moderate" in the monarchy --- so does he know something that we do not?

More messages from Al Fedalah:

"Reliable sources have confirmed that the state began addressing the organisers of the national dialogue, asking them to prepare for a new "serious" dialogue with the opposition soon."

"The new dialogue will be directly between the regime and the opposition, the preparation of this dialogue have already started while other political societies are ignored."

"The new dialogue will be different than the previous one! And [it] will include some of the detained opposition representatives who were planning to overthrow the regime and announce the Republic."

"Calling this new dialogue 'serious' gives the impression that the previous "national dialogue" was not serious....Was it a joke on all segments of the Bahraini community?"

"The new 'serious' dialogue will be done with America & European blessings, but the previous one was just a 'national compatibility; so whoever participated in it for a month should not ask to be part of the new one!"