Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Calling for Assistance

2135 GMT: In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Shia protesters gathered in Qatif and Awwamiya in Eastern Province for a second consecutive day, calling for the release of prisoners held without trial and for political and religious rights.

2125 GMT: Bahraini students in Britain say the regime has stripped government-funded scholarships from at least nine candidates who attended a pro-democracy protest outside the BBC building in Manchester last month. The students claimed officials had told parents to order their children home, and they feared they would be arrested if they returned.

2115 GMT: Morocco's Ministry of Justice said King Mohammed VI has granted pardons or lightened sentences for 190 prisoners, responding to a request from a human rights organisation.

2015 GMT: A round-up of the day in Syria....

Thousands of marchers tried to move from the suburb of Douma (see video in this entry) to central Damascus but were blocked by security forces who, according to an activist, brought several buses carrying men with "pistols and sticks".

Dozens of armed men in plain clothes also reportedly surrounded about 250 protesters rallying in front of the Salam Mosque in the Barzeh district of Damascus.

Thousands were also demonstrating in the southern city of Daraa, where dozens of protesters have died in the last month. Security forces were not visible, according to Al Jazeera's Rula Amin:

It's a completely different scene from last Friday when more than 26 people were killed during protests and clashes with the security forces and protesters here. Today, no security forces are visible at all. People went out after Friday prayers...in thousands. They were marching carrying olive branches saying "peaceful, freedom". Some were demanding the toppling of the regime, others were saying they just want reforms.

Protests were also held in Baniyas, Latakia, Baida, Homs, Qamishli, and Deir ez-Zor. In the coastal city of Baniyas, which has been locked down by the military this week, about 1500 people chanted "freedom" after Friday Prayers.

2010 GMT: Another clip from the mass march in Douma in Syria today:

2000 GMT: Back from an extended break for an academic conference --- many thanks to Ali Yenidunya for keeping the LiveBlog going today.

Catching up with stories....

C.J. Chivers of The New York Times reports that Libyan regime forces surrounding Misurata, killing at least eight more people today, are using cluster bombs amongst their heavy weaponry.

Remnants of expended shells, examined and photographed by The Times, establish the rounds as MAT-120 cargo mortar projectiles, each of which carries and distributes 21 smaller submunitions designed both to kill people and penetrate light armour.

In Jordan, police used tear gas to stop fighting between pro-monarchy youths and Salafis, a branch of Sunni Islam, demanding freedom for detainees in Zarqa.

At least 20 people were hospitalised.

1600 GMT: Pro-Qaddafi forces fired rockets into Misurata for second day in a row, killing at least 8 people.

1550 GMT: While there were rival anti-government rallies in Sanaa and in other towns, with clashes reported in the southern flashpoint town of Taiz, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh said pro-regime crowds gave him legitimacy to stay in!

1540 GMT: Protestors marching from Damascus suburbs chant "people want the overthrow of the regime."

1530 GMT: Protest in Homs, Syria today.

1520 GMT: Aisha Qaddafi, Muammar Qaddafi's daughter, told his father's supporters that he will not step down and added: "Talk about Gaddafi stepping down is an insult to all Libyans because Gaddafi is not in Libya, but in the hearts of all Libyans."

1510 GMT: A marchin Syria:

1500 GMT: Tens of thousands Syrians in Douma were fired tear gas and beaten with batons. 

1445 GMT: Authorities in Bahrain are holding off any action against  Shiite opposition parties after criticism from Washington and other allies. 

1355 GMT: NATO air strikes hit Libyan city of Sirte.

1320 GMT: Hundreds of protesting Islamic hard-liners clashed with supporters of Jordan’s pro-King loyalists, dozens are wounded.  

1305 GMT: Another video coming from Douma, Syria.

1300 GMT: In Libya, the fight between the opposition and regime forces continues in Ajdabiya in the east:

1245 GMT: Protestors in the Damascus suburb of Douma are chanting, "No emergency law ... no corruption ... with our blood and our souls, we sacrifice for you, Daraa":

1220 GMT: Several men attacked Al-Arabiya cameraman while he was covering the funeral of two youths who had died in anti-government protests in Yemen.

1210 GMT: Yemeni protesters are out in Jawf. Tribal leader says: "Victory is near for our revolution. We're witnessing end of Saleh's dictatorship."

1140 GMT: Qaddafi's forces opened fire on rebels on the western edge of Ajdabiyah on Friday, killing one.

1120 GMT: The Washington Post's Bimbaum and Warrickand write why Washington is silent to the developments in Bahrain:

Two months after the eruption of mass protests in Bahrain, the kingdom has largely silenced the opposition, jailing hundreds of activists in a crackdown that has left the Obama administration vulnerable to charges that it is upholding democratic values in the Middle East selectively.

In the case of Bahrain, the United States has key military interests. The kingdom is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet; it is also seen as a strategically important bulwark against Iranian power in the region. But even more vital is the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, a critical ally in the Middle East for half a century.

1100 GMT: Activists say that thousands of protesters chant for "freedom" in Syria's southern city of Deraa while army is not present yet. Meanwhile, around 250 people protest for "freedom" in front of Salam mosque in Barzeh district inside Damascus.

1050 GMT: Syrian human rights group says around 1,500 people chanting "freedom" in city of Baniyas.

1045 GMT: Leading opposition figure Yaseen Noman: "Saleh’s options are very limited..we now announce a one week deadline for him to resign from the Presidency.”

1040: Although protests in Algeria have been local so far, they are challenging President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's authority. 

1035 GMT: President Ali Abdullah Saleh said to his supporters that the opposition should join him for talks. Indeed, he said that the opposition is breaking the religious law. Meanwhile, three million protestors gathered across 16 provinces in the country. 

1030 GMT: Is there a revolution happening inside Saudi Arabia while Saudi elites are looking nervously abroad?

1000 GMT: An activist website posts a list of 238 people detained in and around Tahrir Square in Cairo in the last month --- many are still in jail.

0715 GMT: Al Jazeera cameraman Kamel Al-Tallou has been released from detention in Libya.

Al-Tallou is the third of four Al Jazeera journalists, seized on 31 March 31, to be released. Ammar Al-Hamdan is still in detention.

Meanwhile, "Western sources" say they have seen three detained reporters, including Clare Gillis of The Atlantic in a regime detention camp in Tripoli.

0625 GMT: A sign in Misurata in Libya, "Warning: Sniper Ahead":

0600 GMT: Spiegel Online tells the story of how Libyan insurgents established their own mobile phone network, getting around the regime's restrictions on commmunications.

0555 GMT: Two moves on Thursday by the Syrian regime --- President Assad introduced a new Cabinet and an unstated number of protesters, detained since the beginning of the uprising on 15 March, were given amnesty.

Prime Minister Adel Safar, formerly Minister of Agriculture, heads the new Cabinet. 

Meanwhile, tension continues in the coastal town of Baniyas, despite a reported deal between security forces and the residents. 

Activists claimed that the army's control of the town, established last weekend after clashed killed 10 troops and at least four residents, would be accepted, with security agents refraining from patrolling neighbourhoods to make arrests and hundreds of detainees released.

State TV reported, however, that snipers shot dead one solider and wounded another, and several freed detainees claimed they had been tortured.

0510 GMT: It's Friday, so that brings the possibilities of mass protests in countries throughout North Africa and the Middle East. 

Iraqi authorities have already moved to block that possibility, officially banning street protests in Baghdad and limiting sites for approved demonstrations to three football stadiums.

Demonstrators in Baghdad have focused on holding rallies in the city's Tahrir Square.

0500 GMT: Agence France Presse offers the context for the opposition's call for assistance, reporting that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has rejected a personal appeal from French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for Washington to resume significant air raids in Libya.

"I told her we needed them back, we would have liked them to return," Juppe said, adding Clinton's reply that US planes would continue to fly on a case-by-case basis.

A senior US official contended that the US was performing one-quarter of overall missions and saw no need to do more: "We have said all along that we want to see allies step up and that we are certainly doing at least our fair share." 

0450 GMT: Libya's opposition government, the National Transitional Council, has issued a call to the international community for support in the country's third-largest city, Misurata, which has been under siege for seven weeks by regime forces.

The NTC noted the efforts of Qaddafi's troops to prevent any medical and humanitarian assistance with attacks including GRAD missiles. On Thursday, at least 23 people were reportedly killed by the rockets.

Because Misurata is in the west of Libya, only 210 km (130 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, it has presented a special case for the international coalition --- does it concentrate on supporting the opposition through a no-fly zone and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians in the east, where the insurgents have established themselves, or does it maintain operations throughout the country?

The NTC's statement is designed to ensure the latter. Reports of NATO interventions on Thursday were confined to three airstrikes around Tripoli.

The appeal comes as activists speak of demonstrations, matching the start of the insurgency on 17 February, including in the capital.