Yemen, Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Bombings, Sit-ins, and a False Defection

2026 GMT: Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has stated that he is investigating the charge that Colonel Gaddafi supplied his soldiers with Viagra in order to use rape to punish women. He is contemplating adding a charge of mass rape to Gaddafi's indictment.  

2003 GMT: Something is happening in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

Yemen State TV has announced that President Saleh's operation was successful. Ain News is reporting that a crowd of President Saleh's supporters have started shooting into the air. Panicked opposition members are reporting that they are fleeing into their homes to escape any potential violence.

Rumors appear to be spreading that Saleh has returned to Yemen, but these are almost certainly false, sparked by the celebration.

1959 GMT: Mareb News is reporting that Republican Guards have ordered the closing of all entrances to the capital city, Sana'a, starting at 5 PM local time. Our sources are already reporting that they are unable to move in and out of the city.

We will continue to monitor this sdevelopment.

1930 GMT: An official of the United Nations' World Food Programme warns people in Yemen are going hungry, as fighting disrupts food supplies and increases prices. Gian Carlo Cirri told Reuters:

WFP data shows the cost of wheat flour rose by 26 percent in Yemen's urban areas and by 38 percent in rural areas from January to May 2011. Rice prices jumped by 30 percent in urban areas and 67 percent on the countryside over the same period.

1910 GMT: The AP has this report from Syria:

1651 GMT: Actually, it seems we exclusively deal with confusing news stories...

Earlier, we posted a video showing elements of the 1st armored division dispersing a crowd that had been protesting in front of Vice President Hadi's home in Sana'a, Yemen. 

This report doesn't make much sense to us, as the 1st Armored Division is led by Ali Muhsen Al-Ahmer and is allied to the Youth movement.

The Yemen Post is reporting that that the soldiers were attempting to prevent potential attacks against Hadi's compound. "Clashes erupted with three people including a soldier and some gunmen were also arrested. On Monday, regime supporters closed Zubairy St near Asser area forcing passers-by and cars to redirect. They also fired at people but no casualties were reported."

Though we need more information, our snap analysis is that the 1st Division, and the opposition leaders, see an opportunity to negotiate with Hadi, form a transitional council, and end this crisis. That process could easily be jeapordized by violence, especially if the acting president is incapacitated. 

1637 GMT: A new "most confusing story of the day" alert.

Apparently, the pictures that many media organizations have been running of Amina Abdallah Araf, a Syrian-American gay blogger who has gone missing in Damascus, allegedly kidnapped, are not of Amina at all. The images belong to a London woman. 

1619 GMT: The Guardian's Chris Stephens confirms our earlier report, that Gaddafi's soldiers have suffered another defeat near Misurata:

Government forces unleashed a barrage of grad rockets and mortar shells against rebel positions to the east, west and south of the town in the early morning … An hour after the shelling began, pro-Gaddafi forces launched an infantry assault on positions on the western front … The rebels eventually beat off the attack and, according to [injured rebel fighter Sadik Ibrahim] Muhammad, Gaddafi's soldiers took heavy casualties … For all the ferocity of the bombardment, in which several thousand mortar bombs and rockets were fired, the city itself was not hit and the pro-Gaddafi forces appeared either to lack tanks or to be unwilling to commit them to the eastern assault.

1603 GMT: Earlier we reported that pro-Gaddafi forces were advancing on Misurata, threatening many of the advances won in recent days. 

A source reports that an eyewitness just called into Al Jazeera Arabic and reported that the rebels have haulted the Gaddafi advance, capturing soldiers and destroying military vehicles in the process.

1557 GMT: Al Jazeera has the video testimony (Arabic) of another Syrian soldier who claims that he was ordered to fire at protesters. The key claim: that behind the soldiers that were shooting at civilians, a second line of soldiers were ordered to shoot any other soldiers who refused to fire into the crowds.

1553 GMT: Protesters in Taiz, Yemen's second largest city, call for the formation of a Transitional Council:

1542 GMT: Al Jazeera has uploaded a video, allegedly taken today, that reports to show the 1st Armored Division soldiers (loyal to a defected general) dispersing the crowd that has gathered on 60th street (an activist corrects AJE, as they are reporting that it is 66th Street), Sana'a, for the last 24 hours. Soldiers are armed with non-lethal wooden sticks, but at the end of the video gunfire can be heard as the crowd panics (the guns may have been fired in the air).

1526 GMT: The opposition in Yemen has threatened to form its own transitional council if the government continues to drag its feet. Prominent activist Tawakkol Karman told reporters that the need for immediae transition was highly important:

“The only reason we are calling for the formation of a presidential council is because we feel the political powers have failed to take advantage of this historical moment when the president has left.” 

Despite recent violence, the tribal leaders have opted to defer to the opposition in the street to push a political agenda while still insisting that it is time for the Saneh regime to go.

1515 GMT: According to the Yemen Human Rights Monitor, Ahmad Al-Masebeli attended yesterday's protests in front of the home of Vice President Hadi in Sana'a. He read aloud the list of demands drafted by the "Youth." The demands centered around two main goals:

1. Declaration for an immediate start in the transition period that lasts one year, begins by a constitutional announcement that will identify the features of the transitional stage to meet the ambitions and aspirations of the revolution. 

2. To form a Presidential Council consisting of integrated and effective civilian members who believe in the values, principles and objectives of the peaceful youth and peoples' revolution and receive a popular consensus of all the national forces, and so that:

- The Council does not include any of the former regime symbols.

- The members of the Presidential Transitional Council are not entitled to run for presidential elections in its first cycle after the transitional period. 

1450 GMT: Al Jazeera has posted video of an interview with a Syrian seuciryt member who has defected:

"Hama-Sahl Al Ghab, a sergeant who defected from the army after the siege of Banias confirms in this Avaaz video that there were no armed groups and that he was ordered to shoot demonstrators."

1431 GMT: Spain has officially recognized the Libyan National Transitional Council as the only legitimate representatives of the people of Libya. 

1429 GMT: Rebel officials have told Al Jazeera that 12 rebels have been killed in a pro-Gaddafi assault on the city of Misurata. 

1403 GMT: Hassan al-Misrati reports to the Guardian from Misurata, Libya:

"Misrata is under heavy shelling ... Gaddafi forces are shelling Misrata from three sides: east, west and south. He has sent thousands of troops from all sides and they are trying to enter the city. They are still outside, though. We have lost 10 rebels and 26 wounded, most of them are critically wounded."

1357 GMT: Britain and France will push through a UN resolution condemning the crackdown against civilians in Syria. British Prime Minister David Cameron has drafted “a resolution at the Security Council condemning the repression and demanding accountability and humanitarian action.”

1345 GMT: James Miller takes the live blog. Here's a summary of the day so far:

Syria - The beseiged town of Jisr al-Shughour is a ghost town as the military escalates their presence in the region.

Libya - There are reports that forces loyal to Mouhmar Gaddafi are advancing towards the key city of Misurata, reportedly liberated by rebels within the last week. After more than a day of the heaviest bombing since the start of the air campaign, Tripoli is relatively quiet today.

Bahrain - The Formula One race may, once again, be cancelled, according to Bernie Ecclestone.

Yemen - The ruling party has started talks with the opposition JMP after protesters demanded the formation of a transitional council. 

0840 GMT: The Los Angeles Times summarises the superficial line taken by Barack Obama --- at least in public --- in a meeting with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa in Washington yesterday:

President Obama pressed Bahrain's crown prince to ease the Persian Gulf state's brutal crackdown on its political opposition and urged him to 'hold accountable' those responsible for human-rights abuses against unarmed demonstrators.

In an Oval Office meeting Tuesday with Salman bin Hamad Khalifa, Obama welcomed the kingdom's decision to lift emergency security measures that were imposed to quell the protests, as well as its announcement that the government and its opponents would begin talks on political reform, the White House said in a statement.

The newspaper notes that Obama did not name anyone who might be held "accountable" for the abuses, and it adds Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's assuring remark, "Bahrain is a partner, and a very important one, to the United States."

0830 GMT: France 24 summarises the confusion around the on-air resignation/non-resignation of the Syrian Ambassador to France, Lamia Chakkour (see 0445 GMT). It posts its audio interview in which Chakkour apparently quit --- later the Ambassador would deny she made any such statement and would threaten to sue France 24.

0650 GMT: Sayed Ahmed is among a group of protesters due to be sentenced tomorrow for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Bahraini regime and colluding with foreign terrorist groups. Here he is in an Al Jazeera English video from mid-March, "Fighting for Change", on the violence against the demonstrators during the clearing of the protest camp at Pearl Roundabout:

0445 GMT: So far a quiet morning after a busy Tuesday....

In Yemen, the political situation continued to fray on several fronts. Marchers moved on the house of Acting President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, holding a sit-in, even as there were doubts whether Hadi was really the person in charge. One hot rumour had him shouted down by Ahmed Saleh, the son of the departed President and the man who have taken over.

Meanwhile, an immediate test for whoever is claiming authority: hundreds of tribal gunmen reportedly occupied the centre of Taiz, which has been a centre of protest and clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and security forces.

In Libya, NATO stepped up its pressure, carrying out daytime strikes in Tripoli. Bombs reportedly fell near the large compound of Muammar Qaddafi.

In Syria, the confusion over the bloody clash at Jisr al-Shughour in the northwest continued amidst the regime's insistence that 120 security forces had died and activists claiming that almost 40 civilians and protesters had been slain. 

The country also produced the strangest story of the day. The Syrian Ambassador to France, Lamia Chakkour, initially appeared to have declared her resignation in a phone call to France 24. However, she later popped up --- again through the audio of a phone call --- on Al Jazeera Arabic, insisting she was still in post and declaring that she would sue France 24 over a "false" story.