Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protest Friday

Protesters gather in Tahrir Square for "Persistence Friday."

See our separate video entries: Latest Syria Videos: The "No Dialogue" Protests - Set 1 and Set 2

2056 GMT: As we close the day, a brief reflection. Our predictions this morning were pretty accurate. We saw massive demonstrations in Yemen, both for and against President Saleh. We saw a large pro-Gaddafi celebration in Libya because Gaddafi had ordered a single Friday Prayer celebration. We saw massive demonstrations in Suez and Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt.

Perhaps the most important development, however, was in Syria. In Damascus, we saw large protests in the center of the city, and security fired on the crowds, a sure sign that even the capital is starting to turn against the regime, slowly but steadily. In Hama, US Ambassador Robert Ford was described by the Syrian Interior Minister as meeting "with saboteurs in Hama ... who erected checkpoints, cut traffic and prevented citizens from going to work." However, he got a hero's welcome, and nearly 500,000 people peacefully took to the streets with few incidents of security cracking down on the city.

Protests continue tonight in Egypt, and US-Syria relations may have changed permanently. Check in tomorrow (0600 GMT) to find out what happens next.

2051 GMT: Near Tahrir Square, Cairo, 5:30 PM:

Near Tahrir Square, Cairo, 6:00 PM, and the protesters are still there now.

2029 GMT: Al Jazeera has posted this AFP picture from Tahrir Square, Egypt, taken about an hour ago.

2024 GMT: At least 11 people have died in Yemen today as pro and anti-Saleh protesters held demonstrations across the country. According the AJE, five people died Sana'a, four in the town of Ibb, and at least elsewhere. Many of the deaths were accidental, but it is unclear whether all of the people died because of falling bullets from celebratory gunfire. We have no specific information yet about the cause of the deaths, but we'll let you know.

1841 GMT: The flashpoint in Damascus seemed to be near the Hassan Mosque in the Midan neighborhood, the first time such a large protest has taken place in the center of Damascus. At least one person was killed and many were wounded when security opened fire there. Protesters chanted, among other things, “Oh Hama, we are with you to the end!” and “No dialogue with the killers of children.”

1837 GMT: Back from a break and catching up...

Protesters on the road to Tahrir Square call for others to join the protests.

1639 GMT: An eyewitness in Damascus describes the events today for Al Jazeera. He said he knew 15 people who have been wounded by gunfire:

According to one eyewitness, between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters joined together in Qaboun from the nearby towns of Al Tal and Duma, just outside Damascus, and the Berze area, which borders Qaboun inside the capital city.

Marching through Qaboun’s main street, the protesters chanted, “No dialogue with the regime”, “The people want to topple the regime” and “No dialogue with Bashar”.

“Today, we are watching the biggest demonstration yet in Qaboun,” said Khaled, 25, a local pro-democracy protester.

“All protesters want to say President Bashar al-Assad and his regime have no legitimacy. We want to say no to dialogue and the only solution for the crisis is Bashar and his regime to leave the country ... I want the entire world to come and see how the Assad regime replies to civilian protesters with live ammunition.”

1631 GMT: In Libya, Gaddafi declared several days ago that all mosques would be closed in Tripoli, and all Friday prayers would take place in Green Square. As a result, a large pro-Gaddafi protest has taken place today.

Supporters of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi gather to perform Friday prayers at Green Square in Tripoli July 8 [images | reuters]

1621 GMT: Today there have been protests all across Yemen against President Saleh and against US and Saudi Arabian support for the regime.. This video is from Hajjah.

Protests in Al Baydah, Yemen.

1613 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have this update about the current situation in Homs:

Homs: many wounded in Khaldieh while gun fire is continuing now and heavily, security forces detained a large number of citizens of Tadmor, among them is a child (10 years old) after the massive demonstration that went out in the city

1512 GMT: Representatives of the tribal factions and the opposition in Libya have begun to work with UN officials to ease sanctions on Gaddafi-controlled Libya. The plan is to allow medical and emergency supplies into the country to head of potential humanitarian disaster.

1504 GMT: Activists have compiled a map of today's protests in Syria:

View Syria - Friday 08/07/2011 in a larger map

1457 GMT: NPR's Baghdad correspondent, Kelly McEvers, notes that there were protests in Iraq's own Tahrir Square, but they are nothing like the rest of the region:

"...two hundred people, two hundred different problems..."

1453 GMT: The AP is now reporting that both US Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier left the city of Hama today before protests begin. The Guardian is suggesting that the video below of Robert Ford's car was taken today, suggesting that they were there when the protests started.

1447 GMT: The entire city of Hama erupts into chants and celebrations, throwing flowers at the car of US Ambassador Robert Ford as he enters the city yesterday.

1435 GMT: A large crowd protests in Hodeidah, Yemen, protesting against President Saleh and rejecting US and Saudi support for the government in Yemen.

1423 GMT: A truly massive crowd has reportedly joined an anti-Saleh demonstration in Ibb, Yemen. The protesters are demonstrating as a response to Saleh's speech, rejecting "Saudi and US guardianship" and interference. The anti-Saleh protesters believe that Saudi Arabia is nursing Saleh back to health so that he can return, a betrayal in their eyes.

1409 GMT: Thousands have gathered today in Arbaeen Square, in Suez, Egypt, to demand the resignation of the Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy. Protesters have been gathered in the square since Friday, and on Thursday there were riots when seven police officers accused of killing protesters were released on bail. The protesters are demanding the final purge of Mubarak officials, and yesterday they were joined by workers from the Suez Canal, who have been on strike to protest conditions.

1406 GMT: The LCCS is now reporting that 8 have been killed and over 40 wounded so far in violence across Syria. Casualties are reported in Dumair, Zabadani, Banyas and the Midan district in the center of Damascus.

1354 GMT: We've topped off our first set of videos from Syria with protests in Kafranbel (northwest), the Damascus suburb of Hajar Aswad, Idlib city (northwest), and Lattakia on the coast.

We've also started a second set of videos. So far, we have images form the Zabadani section of Damascus (in support of Hama), Bab Sbaa (in Homs), and Dael in southern Syria.

1347 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, a leading opposition group, is now confirming reports that we've seen posted by some activists. The LCCS is reporting one civilian casualty in Banyas, 10 people wounded in the Qaboun section of Damascus, and this report from outside of Hama:

one protestor injured by mass gunfire in Qamhaneh village as villagers attempted to head to Hama to participate in the demonstration

1335 GMT: Al Jazeera reports the latest from Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt.

1328 GMT: A large crowd of anti-Mubarak protesters gather in Sharm-el Sheikh, Egypt.

1312 GMT: The US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, has left Hama in order to not be "a distraction" during today's protests.

Yesterday, he entered the city unexpectedly, and late in the day, as we were carrying reports that the people of Hama were planning for a military siege and some activists suggested there would be no protests today as a result. It might be a stretch to link cause and effect, but Ford spent the night in the city, the military crackdown didn't happen there, and now there are reports of 450,000 protesters there (see updates below).

Earlier today, however, the Syrian Foreign Minister condemned the move as proof of US interference and provocation in the unrest, and the regime expressed dismay that the military would now be unable to restore order to Hama.

Al Jazeera is reporting that the French Ambassador, Eric Chevallier, had also joined Ford. We don't know if Chevallier is still in Hama.

1305 GMT: Protests are reported in many areas of Syria. So far, we have posted video from Ain Arab (Turkish border), Hama, Deir Ezzor (northeast), Homs, Qamishli (northeast Turkish border), Qaboun district of Damascus, Al-Kiswah (Damascus province), Daraa (south Syria), and Jableh on the coast.

Al Jazeera is reporting large protests in Deir Ezzor:

Towns where protests are taking place include Tabaqa, on the eastern edge of Assad Lake, a town officially known as Thawra, or Revolution, as well as Mayadin and Al Bukamal on the border with Iraq.

The military remains deployed to the edge of the regional capital Deir Ezzour, where over the past month protestors have burned and destroyed nearly all the posters and statues of President Assad and his family.

1253 GMT: James Miller takes over the liveblog.

Hama is a city of 800,000 people. The AFP is reporting that activists they trust put the number of protesters in the streets there at 450,000.

1215 GMT: Video of the protest of hundreds of thousands in Hama in Syria is being live-streamed.

1150 GMT: While we are being very careful in passing on information from Syria, it appears from reports that there have been large turnouts throughout the country. In Hama, activists are claiming hundreds of thousands have defied military pressure to demonstrate:

See also Latest Syria Videos: The "No Dialogue" Protests

1040 GMT: A "Persistence Day" demonstration in Suez in Egypt today:

1030 GMT: Ahram Online reports, "Friday prayers in Tahrir Square end, followed immediately by a roar of chants enveloping the revolutionary square, as hundreds of thousands chanted: 'One hand', 'The people demand the overthrow of the regime', and 'The people demand the rights of the martyrs'."

1025 GMT: Friday Prayer in Tahrir Square in Cairo today:

0945 GMT: Laura Kasinof of The New York Times posts a depressing account of a dispirited youth opposition in Yemen:

It has been almost six months since protesters, mostly young people and students, took to the streets demanding the immediate ouster of their president. Their numbers swelled from a few hundred in January to tens of thousands by April, uniting under the common theme of bringing down the Saleh government. They have withstood violence, harsh weather and even a two-week war in the capital between Mr. Saleh and his tribal rivals.

Now, some of those young people left behind say that Yemen’s political impasse has led to internal bickering and underscored a lack of vision, and that an overall feeling of weariness has settled in.

“We need to start our revolution again,” said [Anas] Humaid, once part of a band of about 30 students who protested in front of Sana University even before the Tunisian revolution sparked mass protests throughout the Arab world.

0940 GMT: Syrian activists now say that security forces killed three people in the Damascus suburb of Harasta when they attacked an overnight protest against the Syria regime (see 0700 GMT).

Three activists made the claim, while another Syria-based source said that residents had told him that security forces used live bullets and smoke bombs to quell the demonstration.

0930 GMT: An image 45 minutes ago from Tahrir Square in Cairo, as protesters congregate:

0925 GMT: An extract, with English subtitles, of Yemeni President Saleh's address on national TV yesterday.

Saleh was speaking from Saudi Arabia, where he is recovering from burns and shrapnel wounds suffered during a bombing at the start of June.

0920 GMT: Claimed footage of a skirmish with security forces in Bahrain last night:

0845 GMT: A morning shot of Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital Cairo, as people gather for today's "Persistence Day" rally:

Video is coming out of the growing rally and loud chants from Tahrir Square in Cairo.

0830 GMT:

0820 GMT: The Associated Press published the account of Ibrahim Jamal al-Jahamani, a recently-released detainee in Syria, about the beating of a 15-year-old prisoner by Syrian authorities.

Al-Jahamani] heard the interrogators demand that the 15-year-old proclaim strongman Bashar Assad as his "beloved" president.

The youth, later identified as Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei, refused. Instead, he chanted an often-heard slogan from anti-regime street protests calling for "freedom and the love of God and our country."

Tamer's refusal apparently was the final straw for the interrogators.

"Guards broke his right wrist, beating him with clubs on his hands, which were tied behind his back," al-Jahamani told The Associated Press after his release from detention, referring to the beatings as torture.

"They also beat him on the face, head, back, feet and genitals until he bled from the nose, mouth and ears and fell unconscious," he recalled.

"He pleaded for mercy and yelled: 'Mom, dad, come rescue me!'" al-Jahamani said. "He was lying like a dog on the floor in his underwear, with blood covering his body. But his interrogators had no compassion that they were savagely beating a boy," al-Jahamani added, his voice breaking with emotion.

0700 GMT: Residents and activists say about 300 Syrian security forces raided Harasta, a suburb north of Damascus, injuring two people overnight.

The human rights organisation Sawasiah claimed the forces entered the main hospital and abducted three injured protesters "whose lives are now in extreme danger".

0630 GMT: The Syrian has accused the US of interference after the American ambassador, Robert Ford, visited the key city of Hama amidst growing protests and military raids.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement:

The presence of the US ambassador in Hama without previous permission is obvious proof of the implication of the United States in the ongoing events, and of their attempts to increase (tensions), which damage Syria's security and stability.

Syria warns against such irresponsible behaviour and stresses its determination to continue to take all measures that will bring back calm and stability to the country.

0615 GMT: The Bahraini Politics blog summarises the opening talks in Bahrain's "national dialogue".

It has been a stuttering start, as the country's largest opposition party, al-Wefaq announced that its delegates would not attend the "social" and "economic" committees, focusing instead on the "political" and "human rights" groups. 

The Bahrain Mirror said al-Wefaq was not satisfied with Thursday's sessions and will announce its withdrawal today at a rally in the northern village of Karranah. Khalil al-Marzooq, a leading al-Wefaq member, said, "We believe the dialogue should discuss major political and security issues. ... This dialogue will not lead to a solution...and it does not fulfill the needs to pull Bahrain out of its political crisis."

0520 GMT: We're getting ready for another protest Friday. It may not the scope of this winter's demonstrations --- remember the Friday in February when we were trying to cover marches in eight countries at the same time? --- but it is likely to be intense.

After a week centred on the escalating tension in Hama, where hundreds of thousands have come out against the Assad regime, Syria is likely to take the headlines. But Egypt, five months after the fall of President Hosni Mubarak, will have a "Persistence Friday" which is like to see many thousands, in Suez and Alexandria as well as Cairo, express their dissatisfaction with the military rulers and the lack of "justice" over corruption and deaths.

In Yemen, look for large rallies both for and against the Saleh regime, a day after the President, still recovering in Saudi Arabia from injuries suffered six weeks ago in a bombing, finally appeared on national television. Bahrain is likely to be much quieter, with little news so far of the regime's heralded "national dialogue" as well as a response to it. 

But, of course, there is always Libya to watch. After the flutter in mid-week of an insurgent advance on Tripoli, which now appears to have been exaggerated, the situation is back to skirmishes of rhetoric and volleys of rockets and gunfire.