Egypt, Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond): Attacking the Protesters

Insurgents fire a rocket-propelled grenade at a Syrian tank in Al Bukamal

See also Bahrain Interview Special: 17 December 2011 --- A Day in the Life of a Protester
Syria (and Beyond) Feature: Missing the Stories Behind the Numbers
Bahrain Video Special: The Police Attack Protesters at Budaiya
Saturday's Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Beyond a "Return" to Protest

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2205 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist network said at least 15 civilians were killed by Syrian security forces today in Homs Province, the Jabal al-Zawiya area, and Maaret al-Numan in the northwest.

The Observatory earlier claimed that six soldiers, including an officer, were slain by defecting troops in Qusair in Homs Province, near the border with Lebanon: "Three armored vehicles were destroyed, and those inside were killed and wounded."

On the diplomatic front, the Qatari Prime Minister reportedly said that the Assad regime will agree to an Arab League plan allowing observers into the country. The Omani foreign minister of also said he is "optimistic" that Syria will sign the protocol within 24 hours "and save the Arab world from foreign intervention".

This weekend the League said Syria must accept the agreement or it would refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council.

Syria's state-run news agency SANA quoted Assad, speaking in front of an Iraqi delegation, that Damascus has "dealt positively with proposals presented because it's in our interest for the world to know what is happening in Syria".

2135 GMT: Protesters in Budaiya in Bahrain, fearing they might be run over, flee from the pursuing vehicles of security forces:

2115 GMT: In the Yemeni capital Sana'a, a candle-lit march in honour of Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian man whose self-immolation on 17 December 2010 was a symbolic catalyst for the uprising against the Ben Ali regime:

2105 GMT: Egyptian State TV airs the "confessions" of young people involved in the sit-in in front of the Cabinet building in Cairo:

2045 GMT: More videos from tonight's protests in Syria --- a crowd in Zabadani near Damascus chants, "We want to remove the thief and live in dignity":

Women protesting in Jarjanaz, chanting, "Bashar in his final days":

And the Hamidiya section of Hama:

1925 GMT: Nadine Ghazzawi, the sister of Syrian activist and blogger Razan Ghazzawi, reports that her sister has been freed and is on her way home.

Razan Ghazzawi, who has dared to post under her real name, was seized on 4 December as she tried to cross the border into Jordan.

1900 GMT: The Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm, and the Salafist Nour Party have declared that they have won three-quarters of the vote in the second round of Egypt's elections. FJP claims it has garnered 40% of the vote, while a spokesperson for Nour says they have around 35%. The two parties, along with a third, more moderate Islamist party Wasat, won more than half the votes in the first round and are expected to receive a similar number of votes in the third round as their return this week. 

The official party list results have yet to be released.

1840 GMT: We have received a steady stream of videos of demonstrations tonight across Syria --- the Farayah neighbourhood of Hama:

Deir Ba'alba in Homs:

And the Qosour section of Homs:

1617 GMT: A scene from the clashes near Budaiya Highway in Bahrain today, with young men milling about, tear gas going off, and a helicopter overhead:

1557 GMT: Journalist Lauren Bohn has sent a series of messages from Tharir Square in Cairo: "Kids being carried away wounded, others trying to salvage books in canvas sack. 48yrold man looks ahead, 'This is just depressing.'....Forced out of Square w/ @aellick [photojournalist Adam Ellick] by mob of men in suits. 'We all hate u, we don't want u here.' Activists followed us, said men were from State Security....Drs/nurses at field hosp told us they'd protect us: 'Please keep taking pics. They're trying to give us a bad name by kcking u out.'"

1555 GMT: Mohamed Nour Farahat, the Secretary General of the advisory council to Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), has called for "a speedy transfer of power" with presidential elections held soon.

Farahat, speaking about the current clashes in Cairo, said the Egyptian armed forces “are not qualified to deal with the events on Qasr al-Aini Street” from either a security or political perspective. Instead, "the armed forces should have handed over power to someone qualified to govern, then gone and defended the homeland". He called on the SCAF to exercise “wisdom and restraint in dealing with the current situation".

1545 GMT: A women's demonstration in Homs in Syria today:

1502 GMT: Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros reports from Cairo, "State TV showing picture of quiet street. 50 metres 2 left, all hell is breaking loose in Sheikh Rehan St."

Tadros adds a note that, as we expected, Saturday's video of military police beating and disrobing a young woman (see 1005 GMT), has become an icon for protest: "People fighting near #tahrir holding up picture of girl who was assaulted by military."

A mourner at Saturday's funeral of Sheikh Effat, a prominent cleric killed by security forces on Friday during the assault on the protest in front of the Cabinet building:

1500 GMT: New video emerges from Bahrain of police, joined by a man in plain clothes, beating and dragging a protester. At the end of the footage, a policeman is seen pointing a gun towards the cameraperson and shouting: "Don't record from [on] top".

The use of tear gas by Bahraini forces has seemingly escalated in recent days, with many activists reporting of a new -- and worse -- "yellow" gas. Whilst several Western countries already stand accused of supplying Bahrain with tear gas, Brazil has, so far, escaped accusation. Writing for Al-Jazeera, Gabriel Elizondo reports on the emerging reality to Brazilians that a country not known for exporting arms has been selling tear gas, through Condor Technologies, to the Bahraini regime.

Condor has denied the allegation.

1440 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said that army defectors killed six regime troops, including an officer, during heavy gunbattles today in the town of Qusair in Homs Province. The Observatory said security forces killed one man and wounded 29 others in northern Syria during other clashes with defectors.

1420 GMT: Our EA correspondent's report from Bahrain about the funeral of Abdulali Ali Ahmed and the move of some mourners to Budaiya Highway (see 1400 GMT) was soon overtaken by events --- security forces moved in to clear the roundabout on the highway, with some protesters remaining defiant:

1415 GMT: Mourners shout "Go, go, murderer", referring to Bahrain's King Hamad, at the funeral of a man who died on Saturday from tear gas inhalation (see 1400 GMT):

1410 GMT: A young man saves books from the Egyptian Science Institute in Cairo, his head covered with a plastic chair as protection from objects being thrown.

1400 GMT: Back from a weekend break to find our EA correspondent's first-hand account of the funeral procession in Mugsha in Bahrain for Abdulali Ali Ahmed (see 1120 GMT):

Mourners chanting, "Oh Martyrs Square, we have the strength to be back", "I am the next martyr", "Down Down [King] Hamad", "Our blood and souls, will be sacrificed to martyrs", and "Step down [Prime Minister and ruling family] Khalifa".

Dozens of youth were gathered on Budaiya roundabout where clashes took place yesterday, waving the Bahrain flag and chanting, "Down Down Hamad." Cars passing by were honking the tune (Tn Tn Ttn) as well. I didn't see any police, except for the helicopter that been flying since early morning.

1130 GMT: Journalist Joseph Mayton, the creator of the BikyaMasr site, is free after being detained by the Egyptian military yesterday. He has promised a full account of the events around his detention.

1120 GMT: An EA source reports from Mugsha in Bahrain on the procession for Abdulali Ali Ahmed, who died yesterday of tear gas inhalation: "The funeral is now moving on the main road of Budaya. About few thousands are marching. No presence of police --- strange!"

1030 GMT: Nick Kristof of The New York Times follows up his visit to Bahrain last week with an editorial and a video. He profiles Ali Alsheikh, a 14-year-old boy killed in a protest in August, and activist Zainab Alkhawaja, detained on Thursday:

Since the government has now silenced her by putting her in jail, I’ll give her the last word. I asked her a few days before her arrest about the proposed American arms sale to Bahrain.

“At least don’t sell them arms,” she pleaded. “When Obama sells arms to dictators repressing people seeking democracy, he ruins the reputation of America. It’s never in America’s interest to turn a whole people against it.”

1025 GMT: The scene last night in the Bahraini village of Mugsha where, earlier in the day, people had passed by the home of Abdulali Ali Ahmed, who died from tear gas that he inhaled on Friday:

A funeral procession for Alqasseb is scheduled for 2 p.m. today in Mugsha, and EA sources expect it to be confronted by security forces.

Clashes in Sitra yesterday:

1005 GMT: We posted the raw footage of this stunning scene from Egypt on Saturday morning, watching military police charge and beat demonstrators.

What we did not realise at the time is that it was this video contained one of the iconic images of protest and conflict this year --- a young woman assaulted, kicked, disrobed, and then dragged by the troops. Activists have re-worked the footage to highlight the incident:

0745 GMT: If Friday was frantic, as we noted to open yesterday's LiveBlog, it was only the prelude to an intense Saturday. From the early-morning assault by Egyptian military police on the protest camp in Tahrir Square, burning tents and beating demonstrators, to the afternoon attack by Bahraini security forces --- captured vividly on camera --- on those trying to stage an occupation at Budaiya to last night's mass rallies across Syria, this was a day in which regimes tried to assert their authority and were met by defiance.

Last night, the two-day toll in Cairo stood at 10 dead and 441 wounded. If it was hard to imagine that toll, and the "ferocious battles" that continued between the military and protesters with tear gas, stones, and even fireworks, then a single image --- a group of the regime's men kicking and dragging a woman, her clothing ripped open --- framed the violence. In Bahrain, a landscape blanketed with tear gas and the quick change in a stand-off --- one moment rows of police being filmed by a man holding up an IPad, the next those rows launching themselves into a crowd with tear gas canisters hurled and batons flailing --- brought home that this Saturday is likely not to be the last.

And in Syria, "only" a few dozen people died in the day's clashes.

Last night's mass rally in Bayada in Homs, calling for Syrian President Assad to leave