Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Who Killed Abdel Fattah Younes?

1555 GMT: Insurgent claim they have surrounded Tiji, the last stronghold of regime forces in the western mountains of Libya.

An estimated 500 regime troops are stationed in Tiji. The blasts of gunfire and shelling by tanks could be heard from the nearby town of Hawamid, taken by the opposition on Thursday as it moved through the mountains, claiming several towns and villages.

1550 GMT: A Syrian army colonel has allegedly said that he has defected with "hundreds" of soldiers and has warned the regime against launching a crackdown on the eastern city of Deir Ez Zor. The man, identifying himself as Colonel Riad al-Asaad, said in a telephone call to AFP that he was speaking from inside Syria "near the Turkish border".

Al-Assad delcared, "I warn the Syrian authorities that I will send my troops to fight with the (regular) army if they do not stop the operations in Deir ez-Zor."

Earlier the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said soldiers shot dead three stone-throwers as a convoy of 60 military vehicles made its way towards Deir Ez Zor.

1350 GMT: A series of videos of the actions of security forces on Friday....

Near Daraa in the south, a man is apparently hit by gunfire from Syrian troops --- others in the group pull him away and put him on a motorcycle:

In Midan in Damascus, a uniformed officer beats and takes away a man:

Pro-regime "shahiba" (armed men) patrol an alley in the Knais section of the coastal city of Lattakia:

Troops and security personnel in the Hajar Aswad area of Damascus:

1320 GMT: Activists of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claim troops stormed the Damascus suburb Kiswah, killing four people, on Friday night.

The group also said one person was killed when troops entered the eastern town of Al Bukamal near the Iraqi border.

0950 GMT: Local and tribal officials say five troops and a colonel and seven insurgents died overnight in clashes in southern Yemen, while army artillery killed eight pro-regime tribesmen by mistake.

The clashes took place outside Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan Province where militants have seized several areas.

0945 GMT: Claimed video of the military commander of the Libyan opposition, General Abdel Fattah Younes, greeting troops on Thursday on the front line near Brega in north-central Libya --- hours later, Younes was assassinated as he was summoned back to the opposition centre in Benghazi for questioning.

0940 GMT: The Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah says security forces shot dead at least 20 civilians on Friday. It claimed the deaths had occurred in the cities of Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deraa, Kiswa, Deir Ez Zor, and in and around the capital Damascus.

The official Syrian news agency said that a member of the security police was killed in the town of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq and that saboteurs bombed an oil pipeline near the central city of Homs.

0925 GMT: NATO bombed three satellite dishes in Tripoli early Saturday in an attempt to knock state television off the air, but broadcasts have continued.

NATO initially distributed a press release video to journalists titled "NATO silences Qadhafi's terror broadcasts" but later changed that to "NATO strikes Libyan state TV satellite facility".

0920 GMT: Claimed footage, uploaded on Thursday, of security forces raiding a home in Daraa in southern Syria:

0910 GMT: Egyptian officials say the death toll from clashes in the Sinai town of El-Arish is now seven, including a 9-year-old boy and three military officers, with 30 people wounded.

Hundreds of men in pickups and on motorcycles allegedly shot and threw rocks at police and soldiers.

Hamdy Azzazy, a human rights activist, said, "The military attempted to withdraw to avoid bloodshed, but the armed men fired at them so they engaged, leaving the residents running for cover."

The assailants reportedly chanted slogans about Egypt returning to Sharia law. "The attackers are Islamic extremists and they are heavily armed with machine guns, hand grenades and rocked-propelled grenades," asserted General Saleh Al Masry, the head of security in North Sinai. "The armed men attacked two police stations, and many soldiers and police officers have been injured while defending themselves. Three of the attackers were killed in the operation so far."

0545 GMT: Egypt is still taking in yesterday's developments when a declared "Friday of Unity" turned into a show of strength by Islamist groups who dominated the rallies in Tahrir Square in Cairo and in other cities.

Other opposition groups accused the Islamists of breaking an agreement, putting up banners such as "Islamic law about the Constitution", setting up "sound systems blasting anti-secular, anti-leftist propaganda", preventing other speakers from taking the stage, and effectively pushing other protesters out of Tahrir.

The secularist blogger Arabawy writes that the Islamists left Tahrir about 7 p.m. and "the secular forces started reclaiming the square again. Marches started, with strong chants: 'Civil (State)! Civil (State)!', and other chants for social justice and retribution for the martyrs’ families."

0540 GMT: Another Friday of massive protests across Syria (see Set 1 and Set 2 of video) with two apparent developments --- 1) significant demonstrations, despite widespread arrests, have established themselves in the capital Damascus and 2) the regime may have "lost" another city, Deir Ez Zor in the northeast, where a resident spoke of "200,000 protesters and no security men".

People were still marching at 3 a.m. Claimed footage from Hama:

0525 GMT: Last night, after a day of confusion, rumour, and mourning, the Libyan opposition said that its own militiamen had killed the military commander, General Abdel Fattah Younes.

Ali Tarhouni, Minister of Finance in the National Transitional Council, said Younes had been killed by members of the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade, a militia allied to the insurgency. According to Tarhouni, the militia leader who had been sent to retrieve Younes from the front line had been arrested and had confessed that "his lieutenants" had carried out the murder.

It is still unclear why Younes was being called back to the opposition centre in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. It has been reported that Younes, the former Minister of Interior under Muammar Qaddafi, was being interrogated in connection with his family's ties to the regime.