Yemen, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Difficulty of Calm

1855 GMT: Varying reactions to the speech of Syrian President Assad....

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said Assad's speech is "not enough", as the President should implement a multi-party-system; however, the deputy secretary-general of the Arab League, Ahmed bin Heli, said Syria is a "main factor of balance and stability in the region" and the League rejects any foreign intervention in its affairs.

1710 GMT: The journalists of the human rights organisation Avaaz claim the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Arbeen the coastal city of Latakia have been locked down by security forces after protests today challenging the speech of President Assad.

The group asserts that security forces are currently conducting a random wave of arrests in Latakia, detaining dozens and chasing and attacking protesters through the side streets.

1705 GMT: Another protest in Syria reacting against President Assad's speech, this one in Binnish in Idlib Province in the northwest:

1500 GMT: Protest in the Yemeni capital Sana'a demanding a transitional government:

And in Taiz:

1455 GMT: Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, being tried in absentia on a variety of charges (see 1150 GMT), has said that he was deceived into leaving the country in January.

In a statement issued by his lawyers, Ben Ali said he had agreed to take a plane to Saudi Arabia to bring his family to safety but had planned to return immediately. Unfortunately, the aircraft left Saudi Arabia without him after the crew ignored his instructions.

Ben Ali, accused of illegally possessing drugs, cash, jewellery, and weapons, said the arms were gifts from other heads of state and the jewellery had been given as gifts to his wife, Leila Trebelsi, by foreign dignitaries. The money and drugs had been planted in his home and the Presidential Palace after his departure.

Ben Ali also denied giving orders for security forces to shoot at protesters who were demanding his resignation.

1445 GMT: The Bahraini regime has renamed the Ministry of Social Development as the Ministry of Human Rights and Social Development.

1300 GMT: In the Yemeni capital Sana'a, tens of thousands of protesters have called on the sons of President Saleh to leave Yemen.

Ahmed Saleh commands the elite Presidential Guard. He has reportedly tried to take control, challenging the Acting President, as his father recovers in Saudi Arabia from injuries in an attack earlier this month.

Khaled Saleh is also an army commander.

In the southern post of Aden, regime forces have reportedly killed one insurgent and wounded two others.

1150 GMT: The trial in absentia of ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has begun, a day after he denied all charges.

Ben Ali, who is exile in Saudi Arabia, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on various charges, including corruption and drug trafficking.

1135 GMT: There are reports of protests against the Assad speech in areas around the Syrian capital Damascus, in Hama, in Idlib Province, and in the coastal city of Latakia.

Claimed video of the demonstration in Hama:

And in Idlib Province in the northwest:

1012 GMT: And with that "great spirit", Assad finishes to chants from the audience, "Allah, Syria, Bashar and nothing else". Syrian State TV shows a pro-Assad gathering outside the building.

1010 GMT: Very little to note in the last 10 minutes, despite occasional bursts of applause such as when Assad talks about the "great spirit" of Syria --- the President has now been speaking for 70 minutes.

1000 GMT: Assad, refers to the recent events around Jisr al-Shughour in the northwest, with more than 10,000 Syrians fleeing across the Turkish border. He calls on the refugees to return and says the security forces will not take revenge.

0958 GMT: Finally, a reference to Syria's economic difficulties, with Assad stressing the importance of restoring confidence in the Syrian economy and warning of the dangers from its "collapse".

0945 GMT: Assad is in a long, rambling passage about why reform must be gradual.

The Parliamentary election will take place in August, and the reform package should be completed by September.

0940 GMT: Another general promise from Assad, "The media will be the eyes and voice of the Syrian people."

0935 GMT: Assad tries to hold up the concession of the lifting of Syria's Emergency Law: "Many are not aware of meaning of [this]....This means we need permission from the Attorney General to arrest [people]."

This, however, "does not mean that people have the freedom to violate the law".

0930 GMT: Assad now promises "national dialogue" to discuss reforms and to design Syria's future.

The President is vague about this dialogue but says parties will take a bigger role in Syria after the release of a new parties law.

An Al Jazeera English correspondent gets to the point, "Assad basically saying that the national dialogue authority will soon hold a dialogue on how to conduct the national dialogue."

0927 GMT: Assad says corruption, caused by "favoritism and nepotism", has "left a great deal of sorrow. This corruption is enough to undermine any country."

President Assad is the son of the late leader Hafez al-Assad.

0923 GMT: After declaring, "protests have created a new generation with a lack of respect for the rule of law and government institutions", Assad tries to be positive: "I wish to listen to citizens directly without their messages being filtered."

Again, more loud applause....

0918 GMT: Assad now blames the deaths and destruction around Jisr al-Shughour in northwest Syria --- activists claims dozens of residents were killed as the town was occupied by the military; the regime claims 120 members of the security forces were killed --- on opposition with "very advanced weapons and means of communications".

0912 GMT: Assad continues with his second group of "criminals and outlaws", trying to focus attention of a justified State response against them.

Ditto with the third group --- the smallest but most dangerous --- of those with "radical" and "blasphemous" views: "They damaged the image of Syria abroad, and they called for international intervention."

He declares, "The use of force was the only option left" against this group, because "in some cases peaceful demonstrations were used as a cover" for their intrigues.

0905 GMT: After a rather tortured analogy about developing immune system against germs, Assad promises, "We want a tomorrow full of hope. We must restore unity tranquility and peace."

Assad says there are three groups, beginning with "people [who] have demands..we should listen to the people and enter dialogue, and talks within reason". These people should be distinguished from those "saboteurs" who cause "spread of mayhem".

The President also sets up a distinction, acknowledging security abuses of the 1980s that led to "fear" preventing people from raising issues --- note that the Hama massacre, which killed many thousands, was in 1982 --- but indicating that these abuses had been dealt with 20 years ago.

0900 GMT: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has begun a nationally-television speech. His opening gambit is that foreign-supported intrigue is responsibility for instability. To loud applause, he declared:

All rumours you have heard about the Assad family are false....What is happening and who is pulling the strings? Many other questions will arise at this time.

Syria is always the target of conspiracies. Here it is significant to speak of a conspiracy designed abroad and implemented here.

Assad continues, "We have paid a high price...[with] acts of vandalism, murder and destruction of private and public property."

0710 GMT: Al-Masdar, citing sources close to the dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, claim he has spoken with the US Ambassador about the transfer of power while continuing the campaign against Al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Ali Mohsen broke with the regime of President Saleh in March, and his forces have been in combat against Saleh's troops since then.

0700 GMT: Claimed video of a Syrian naval officer, 1st Lieutenant Mahmoud Habib, announcing his defection from regime forces:

0640 GMT: A night-time protest in a section of the Syrian capital Damascus:

0630 GMT: Thousands of people marched in Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco, yesterday to protest that constitutional reforms presented by King Mohammed VI are inadequate.

Under the changes, to be approved in a referendum on 1 July, the King would retain his hold on security, the army, and religion.

Protesters marched through the working-class Derb Sultan district carrying placards such as "No to a constitution made for slaves!" and "No to a constitution of dictatorship!" and chanting, "Moroccans, the referendum is a charade!" and "We are not voting for a constitution we don't agree to!"

There was a confrontation (see video in Sunday LiveBlog) with about 500 pro-monarchy activists. A regime offical claimed --- in contrast to opposition assertions of 20,000 people in the march --- that there were only 2500 and the pro-regime rally was attended by 70,000 people.

Protests also took place in other cities including Tangier and Rabat.

0600 GMT: A slightly different start today, as we begin with a message from a photojournalist from Yemen's capital: "Sanaa is at a calm. I think this calm is forcing us all to finally face what we've experienced the past few months, to finally be alone with our thoughts and reflect. It's incredibly difficult."

There have been large pro-reform protests over the weekend in Yemen, but the battles in Sana'a between regime forces and military and tribal opposition have eased. That by no means is resolution, however; the political situation is still tense, with no clear sign of who will control the country and bloody fighting in the south between the regime and insurgents, killing at least 21 over the weekend.

Another type of "calm" in Syria, where the military has effectively locked down towns in the northwest, sending thousands into the countryside and across the border into Turkey. This long clip, taken discreetly from the upper floor of a building, shows security forces patrolling a street:

Still, demonstrations in Idlib Province continue

And video has been posted of NATO's defence of the disruption of calm in the Libyan capital Tripoli, with a spokesman trying to explain an airstrike that demolished a building and, according the regime, killed nine civilians.