Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Defiances

1915 GMT: More confusion over the situation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak....

Egyptian State TV is reporting that Mubarak suffered a heart attack during questioning over corruption charges. However, the prosecutor's office has denied that Mubarak was interviewed today.

Mubarak was hospitalized at Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital, state media reported.

1855 GMT: Bahraini officials are claiming that three shotguns and Molotov cocktails were found in a mosque in Malikiya today.

1850 GMT: Claimed footage of an anti-regime protest in Syria today:

1815 GMT: Interesting reading in The Yemen Observer, linked to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, which reports that the Interior Ministry tightened security measures and deployed extra troops and armoured vehicles across the capital Sana’a "after field reports on Saturday revealed plans to attack Sana’a International Airport".

And who were the potential attackers? The newspapers claims "that hundreds of young anti-government protesters have undergone intensive training at al-Iman University this past week". Al-Iman University is linked to Abdal-Majid al-Zindani, a Saleh opponent as the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen.

These would-be terrorists "were apparently trained by officers from the First Armored Brigade led by the defected General Ali Mushin al-Ahmar", who broke from Saleh last month.

The newspaper moved from this to discuss the protests that were actually occurring near the airport, claiming, "Many residents already gathered at the entrances of Shouob, Nogom and Bab al-Yemen during the night to prevent groups of sit-in demonstrators from camping in these areas. Residents said that this action followed attempts of some protestors to erect new camps in these areas."

1545 GMT: The day of mystery around former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak continues. A source told Ahram Online that its earlier story of Mubarak going to a Jordanian hospitial was incorrect; Mubarak, the source, was expected to appear before investigating authorities in Sinai later today on charges of illicit profiteering and abusing his powers during his rule of Egypt.

Another "official" source said the investigative sessions for Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, were going to take place in Cairo at an undisclosed venue.

Now, however, "Egyptian security and health officials" are saying Mubarak has been hospitalised in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he and his family have stayed since his overthrow on 11 February.

1315 GMT: Egyptian Army are telling Al Jazeera English that former President Mubarak, contrary to reports of his departure for a Jordanian hospital (see 1235 GMT), is still in Sharm under house arrest and that the international travel ban has not been lifted.

1245 GMT: The charge against detained blogger and activist Ahmed Mansour (see 0650 GMT) in the United Arab Emirates? Possession of alcohol.

1235 GMT: Sources "close to the Mubarak family" say that former President Hosni Mubarak has left Egypt for Al Huseein Hospital in Amman, Jordan.

1205 GMT: Reports are coming in of thousands of students demonstrating in Algeria's capital Algiers, moving towards the Presidency.

1148 GMT: The British Foreign Office says former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, who left Tripoli last month, is en route to Qatar for talks which include high-ranking officials of the coalition, including British Foreign Secretary William Hague, and the Libyan opposition.

The Libyan opposition says it has established itself 40 km (25 miles) west of the strategic town of Ajdabiyah on Tuesday after clashes with regime forces killed at least three insurgents.

1145 GMT: Egyptian prosecutors have summoned the former Speaker of Parliament, Fathi Sorour, for questioning over accusations that he used political influence for financial profit.

1135 GMT: Human Rights Watch claims, from interviews with 20 doctors, demonstrators, and relatives from Daraa, Harasta, and Douma, that Syrian security forces in at least two towns prevented medical personnel and others from reaching wounded protesters and stopped the injured from getting to hospitals during last Friday's clashes.

Human Rights Watch confirmed that at least 28 people were killed in protests in the three towns on that day.

1125 GMT: A photograph of yesterday's mass demonstration in Yemen calling for the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh:

0940 GMT: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information follows up on the case of Egyptian blogger Mikael Nabil Sanad, sentenced yesterday by a military court to three years in prison after he posted an entry criticising the military for alleged torture of protesters and questioning if the Army really stood with the people.

0920 GMT: Human Rights Watch reports that on 22 February, Gen. Ismail Etman, head of the Morale Affairs Directorate of Egypt's ruling Supreme Military Council, sent a letter to editors of Egyptian newspapers telling them "not to publish any articles/news/press releases/complaints/advertising/pictures concerning the armed forces or the leadership of the armed forces, except after consulting the Morale Affairs directorate and the Military Intelligence since these are the competent parties to examine such issues to protect the safety of the nation".

The document has now been posted on-line.

0835 GMT: Claimed footage of Monday's protest by hundreds of students at Damascus University in Syria:

0830 GMT: Syrian authorities have detained a pro-reform journalist and two opposition figures in the last 48 hours.

Journalist Fayez Sara was arrested on Monday. He is a member of the Damascus Declaration group, which has just written the Arab League (0815 GMT) to call for sanctions amidst the claimed death of 200 protesters in the last month.

On Sunday the security services arrested Georges Sabra of the outlawed Communist Party and Ahmad Maatouk of the banned Socialist Democratic Union Party.

0825 GMT: CNN reports on the crackdown by security forces in Bahrain:

0820 GMT: The Libyan regime's Minister of Finance, Abdulhafid Zlitni, has said that Tripoli fears it may run out of funds within months if there is no resolution to the political and military crisis.

Zlitni told The Guardian of London that the regie would double interest rates in the next week ito encourage citizens to stop hoarding money at home and to deposit their cash in banks. The measure follows the rationing of fuel, restrictions on cash withdrawals from banks, an increase in public sector pay by 50%, and a doubling of pensions.

0815 GMT: A Syrian human rights movement, the Damascus Declaration group, has said the death toll from protests since 15 March has reached 200.

In a letter to the Secretary General of the Arab League, the activists called on the organisation.and called on the Arab League to impose sanctions on the regime: "Syria's uprising is screaming with 200 martyrs, hundreds of injured and a similar number of arrests.... The regime unleashes its forcers to besiege cities and terrorize civilians, while protesters across Syria thunder with the same chant 'peaceful peaceful'."

0650 GMT: Picking up on a story from Sunday in the United Arab Emirates --- two more activists advocating democratic reforms have been detained.

Nasser bin Ghaith, a financial analyst and an economics professor at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris’ Sorbonne University, has frequently criticized the UAE regime for refusing to consider all but the most limited of political reforms and for failing to provide a legal framework for economic development. Fahad Salem al-Shehhy has been active in an online forum calling for free elections and other democratic reforms.

The forum was led by Ahmed Mansour, a blogger and human rights activist, who was arrested on Friday in Dubai after he signed a petition in favor of an elected parliament.

Coincidentially, President Obama's National Security Advisor, Tom Donilon, is in the region, seeing Saudi King Abdullah and UAE's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahayan.

0625 GMT: Two more journalists have been detained in Libya. Cameramen Magdi Hilali and Mohamad al-Shuwayhadi of the privately-owned Middle East Broadcasting (MBC) were seized last Wednesday in the north-central town of Brega.

0545 GMT: Reuters give us the photograph of the day --- opposition fighters pause outside Ajdabiya in eastern Libya to let a caravan of camels pass:

0445 GMT: The African Union's initiative for a cease-fire in Libya ground to a halt yesterday. The opposition National Transitional Council made its pre-conditions clear: 1) withdrawal of regime forces from Libya's cities; 2) release of political prisoners; 3) the start of talks for a transitional government based on the removal of Muammar Qaddafi from power.

None of these preconditions were going to be accepted by the regime, as a statement by the leader's son Saif al-Islam Qaddafi made clear:

We are ready for talks even with the devil, but even the devil must know that there are red lines we will not cross.

Firstly, Gaddafi is a red line. Several thousand young people have died to defend the colonel.

Secondly, for 70 years since our independence in 1952, we have been a united people, but now because of Qatar and the West we hear talk of eastern and western Libya.

The third red line is security in Libya. We can't allow anyone to compromise security in Libya by supporting rebel armed groups. Young Libyans are ready to defend the Libyan regime.

Saif al-Islam then threw in the standard line that Al Qa'eda inspired and led the rebellion, and he invoked "the future Libya...with the guide [his father], with Saif, with the people, with the East, with the West, with the South --- we are all one united family".