Syria, Libya, (and Beyond) Liveblog: 1 if by Land, 2 if by Sea

See Also, A Syrian Drama: A Taxonomy of a Revolution (Dahi)

See Also, Syria Video Special: The Assault on Lattakia

Libya, Syria (and Beyond) Liveblog: The Fight for Zawiya

Iran Video Special: Europe & US Need Freedom Most of All

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2104 GMT: James Miller is wrapping up the liveblog (but only because he has to start it again in 5-8 hours).

Our closing thought, the AP has compiled some video of Lattakia, taken today:

2038 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria are reporting protests, heavy security, and the use of live ammunition against crowds in Homs, Deir Ez Zor, Aleppo, and the Qadam district of Damascus. Large protests are reported, once again, in almost every corner of Syria.

2025 GMT: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu expressed his frustration at the situatio today in Syria:

“We are asking Assad to actualize the steps we agreed on in our talks with him,” he went on to say, referring to his meeting with Assad last Tuesday. “He had taken some positive steps in the first few days. Such as the withdrawal of tanks from Hama and providing the transportation of our press members to Hama, but operations have continued in various cities since Friday. It is not possible to condone these operations, which have claimed the lives of many civilians,” he said.

“We have requested an immediate halt of these operations, and we will continue to do so. We are calling on the Syrian administration to be more sensitive to its own people and not to further increase the tension. The necessary steps must be taken immediately. The operations causing civilian losses should be stopped, particularly in this holy month of Ramadan. We will keep on with our contacts in the coming days. The Syrian issue is a matter we have been following very closely; it is a matter we are directly concerned with in every aspect.”

Davutoglu went on to deliver his strongest words yet to Syria's Bahsar al Assad:

“This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: Our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally,” Mr. Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. “If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken,” he said, without saying what that action might include.

Jordan also condemned the actions in Syria:

Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit telephoned his Syrian counterpart Adel Safar and told him "Syria should listen to reason and start implementing reforms," the state news agency Petra reported from Amman. "World anger and rejection of the bloodshed in Syria are growing," he said.

1828 GMT: Video claiming to show more tanks and soldiers attacking the city of Lattakia today (one source says this is Al-Ramil Al-Falasteny, Lattakia):

1821 GMT: Yemen's ruling part has accused the head of the Ahmar tribe of the attempted assassination on President Ali Abdullah Saleh:

"There is no longer room for doubt that Hamid al-Ahmar is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected," Sultan al-Barakani told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Monday.

"The results of the investigation indicate that the SIM cards used in the operation all belonged to the company Sabafon which is owned by Hamid al-Ahmar," added Barakani, head of the General People's Congress parliamentary bloc.

Sabafon is Yemen's leading mobile network operator.

Hamid al-Ahmar is a leading figure in the powerful Ahmar tribe and a wealthy businessman with a senior position in the Islamist opposition party Islah. He is the brother of Sadeq al-Ahmar whose forces engaged in heavy fighting with Saleh loyalists in the weeks before he was injured on June 3.

1817 GMT: Video of night protests in Manbij, east of Aleppo:

1703 GMT: A new video from Syria. It claims to show protests after Taraweeh prayers in Aleppo, an important city that has somewhat resisted the scale of protests seen elsewhere:

1657 GMT: The World Health Organization has convinced the Dutch government to unfreeze 100 million euros [$144.5 million] in Libyan assets. The money will be used for medical supplies.

1638 GMT: Reuter's claims were published within less than an hour and 15 minutes ago, but they conflict with The Guardian's assessment of the situation, that Gaddafi has counter-attacked and the town of Zawiya is in dispute. The report also mentions another claimed vidctory for the opposition, the city of Ghariyan:

The Libyan rebels are claiming to have now taken the Western Mountains town of Ghariyan, about 45 miles (75km) south of Tripoli, according to Reuters.

Abdulrahman, identified by the news agency as a rebel spokesman, said:

Ghariyan is fully in the hands of the revolutionaries. They crushed the Sahban Brigade, the main command centre for [Muammar] Gaddafi in the Western Mountains. They took the brigade's heavy and light weapons. Gaddafi has been isolated. He has been cut off from the outside world after the revolutionaries managed to cut road linking Tripoli to Tunisia.

This map shows where Ghariyan is in relation to Tripoli.

A spokesman for David Cameron, the British prime minister, said today that "we think the Nato operation is proving successful in eroding Gaddafi's ability to wage war against his own people".

The Associated Press is reporting today that Gaddafi's forces have pushed the rebels back from the centre of Zawiya in "fierce fighting". The rebels were running low on ammunition and waiting for supplies, the news agency said. It reported cars fleeing Tripoli in fear of the civil war reaching the capital. Mohammed Bilkheir, an accountant, was quoted as saying: "We are afraid of whatever is coming."

1630 GMT: Reuters' latest report on Libya suggests that the opposition fighters now occupy more than 80% of Zawiya, but the Gaddafi snipers are wreaking havoc on the opposition fighters:

"These snipers are really good. The sniper shot me in the leg as I was climbing a staircase so that a comrade or two would come and help me, and then he would try to kill all of us," he told Reuters, speaking from a bed at Bir Muammar Hospital.

"They have a well thought-out plan. "The snipers are in many tall buildings in Zawiyah. It will take time to hunt them down," said Oraybee, 26, who was an accountant before he took up arms.

1609 GMT: I'm not sure how the media missed this event (especially the media that is based in Cairo), but the Egyptian Interior Ministry is reporting that at least 34 people have been injured in clashes between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak crowds near the police academy.

1554 GMT: A source has contacted us about a new mystery video. The soldiers on the back of a tank are filing a Syrian army advance, reportedly on the way to Al Harak, west of Daraa, Syria (map). While the source cannot vouch for the video, he adds a possible explanation. According to the source, and several other activists, Syrian activists in the opposition are paying soldiers for good, news-worthy videos. The soldiers, either out of protest or out of poverty, seem to be keeping up the supply.

The video claims to show a Syrian military convoy advancing on Al Harak today, and if my source's theory holds water, then Al Harak, or Daraa, may be the scene of the next military crackdown.

1537 GMT: A source for Reuters, reportedly inside Tripoli, has this update on developments inside the capital:

He also said rebels clashed with Gaddafi's security forces inside Tripoli on Sunday night.

"There is no gasoline, no electricity, food prices are up 300 percent. We just cannot live like this anymore."

1531 GMT: The PLO has also heard the report of the attack against the Ramel refugee camp near Lattakia, and has condemned the actions of the Syrian army.

1525 GMT: James Miller takes the blog, after Ali Yenidunya did an excellent job of taking us through the morning and early afternoon.

Chris Gunness of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees is reporting that a refugee camp for Palestinians outside of Lattakia has reportedly been attacked by Syrian security forces:

1500 GMT: Judge Ahmed Rifaat's reading out his decision which bans on further TV broadcast of trial.

1450 GMT: British prime minister David Cameron's spokesman welcomed Libyan opposition forces and said: 

We have seen some progress over the weekend. Clearly that is welcome. We have been saying for some time that we think the NATO operation is proving successful in eroding Gaddafi's ability to wage war against his own people.

We are going to continue to apply that pressure and we will be patient and persistent in doing so until Gaddafi stops brutalising his people.

1445 GMT: A video footage is coming from Tiji, Libya, showing opposition figters in attempt to liberate the city that was taken earlier today [See the map].

1430 GMT: Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr is reporting from the deserted Zawiyah, saying that the fighting is continuing in the centre. 

1425 GMT: Germany has called for more EU sanctions against Syria. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said: "This current use of violence cannot be justified morally or under international law in any way," he said. "We are advocating for the UN Security Council to address the Syria issue again this week." 

1420 GMT: There are reports coming that Syrian troops have opened fire in Idlib province on people trying to flee into Turkey. The driver of a car and a pregnant woman were reportedly killed.

1410 GMT: Homs residents buried Jamal al-Fatwa was killed on Sunday.

1405 GMT: After Qatar's two military helicopters and South Africa's jet accompanied yesterday's highly secure meeting between Libyan opposition forces and the Gaddafi government representatives, the second leg is taking place in Tunisia again. 

AFP reports that Abdel Ilah al-Khatib, the UN secretary-general's envoy for Libya, has flown to Tunis. It is reported that negotiations are ongoing with "several other foreign parties", including an envoy of the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.  

1400 GMT: Al-Jazeera reports that fighting is going on in Brega where the opposition fighters claim that they control two-thirds of the city. The other one-third part contains the industrial area and the oil terminal. 

1355 GMT: The AFP news agency reports that Libyan opposition fighters and some members of the Gaddafi government held talks under high security in the Tunisian town of Djerba on Sunday night. 

1345 GMT: More videos are coming from Latakia, showing gunfires.

1330 GMT: Syrian Kurds gathered in front of the UN office in Arbil, Iraq and protested the Assad regime.

1320 GMT: Activists say the army is rounding up thousands in a sports stadium in Latakia.

1315 GMT: State news agancy SANA says that Syria's Central Bank has told banks and money exchanges to limit sales of foreign currency.

1305 GMT: Sultan al-Barakani, a memberof the ruling party, told the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that Hamid al-Ahmar (a leading figure in the powerful Ahmar tribe and a wealthy businessman with a senior position in the Islamist opposition party Islah) is the main suspect in the attempt to assassinate Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. He added:

There is no longer room for doubt that Hamid al-Ahmar is the prime suspect in the sinful assassination attempt to which the president of the republic and a number of officials were subjected.

The results of the investigation indicate that the SIM cards used in the operation all belonged to the company Sabafon which is owned by Hamid al-Ahmar.

Al-Ahmar had denied the accusations on Sunday.

1300 GMT: Bombs blasts took place in several places in Iraq today, killing 56 people. 

1245 GMT: Syrian troops reportedly fired on fleeing residents, killing at least one person. Meanwhile, a Syrian military official denied reports that gunboats had fired on Latakia and called them as "absolutely baseless." 

1240 GMT: The Libyan Interior Minister Nassr al-Mabrouk Abdullah arrived Cairo with nine members of his family. There are rumours that he might abandoned Gaddafi. 

1230 GMT: Libyan opposition forces are not controlling majority of al-Zawiyah after they captured Gharyan, Surman and Ajaylat. Al-Jazeera's Zeina Khodr report from the city.

1225 GMT: The Union for Syria's Coordinating Committees said security forces have entered al-Ramel neighbourhood in Latakia. Troops had ordered al-Ramel residents to evacuate their homes before they  attack the neighbourhood and make arrests. An activist confirmed that almost all residents evacuated their homes before the deadline. 

Video from Latakia, gunshots at 08.15 AM local time. 

1220 GMT: Libyan state television broadcast what it said was a live speech by Gaddafi:

The Libyan people will remain and the Fateh revolution (which brought Gaddafi to power in 1969) will remain. Move forward, challenge, pick up your weapons, go to the fight for liberating Libya inch by inch from the traitors and from NATO.

Get ready for the fight ... The blood of martyrs is fuel for the battlefield.

1215 GMT: Spanish daily El Pais said today that Bashar al-Assad had rejected Madrid's asylum offer to himself and his family last month. Bernardino Leon, who was sent secretly to Damascus by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said on his return: "My impression is that (Assad) will not compromise on anything substantial."

1210 GMT: Syrian troops backed by tanks entered several towns in Homs. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syrian army is carrying out raids, arrersts with heavy gunfire in the community of Hula.

1200 GMT: Thanks to James Miller who set up today's live blogs while we were in our beds. It is Ali Yenidunya taking over now.

Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports from the Syria-Jordan border, saying that the assult in Latakia is continuing.  

We understand from the local coordinating committee that around 6am local time some women and children in the al Ramel neighborhood were trying to flee to the nearby neighborhood of al Tamra. 

Syrian forces verbally allowed them to pass through, but then opened fire on the families. One man was killed and several women and children were injured. 

0357 GMT: James Miller, setting the scene in the Middle East and North Africa...

And the scenes in two countries could not be more different. Libyan opposition fighters, formerly rebels (how many victories, and how many international recognition, do they earn before we stop calling them that?), in a surprise offensive, may have pushed all the way from the mountains to the sea. By the end of the day, there were reports that the rebels may have captured the costal town of Surman, west of the embattled town of Zawiya, where the rebels had made significant gains. The race for Libya's coast is a race for Tripoli's supply lines. Without these two key cities, Gaddafi's forces would be completely cut-off from any supplies from Tunisia, including a vibrant black market for gasoline, and a potential arms trade.

The supply line to Tunisia is about all that Gaddafi has left. Opposition forces have recently captured an oil tanker, Tripoli has not received a tanker in several months, and the opposition is receiving three to four shipments of refined oil and gasoline in Benghazi every month. Without a supply line by land, and with NATO warships, and opposition privateers, perched off of the coast, it may not be tanks or planes that decide this conflict, but rather who has the fuel to power them.

Meanwhile, in Syria, the people of Lattakia looked towards the sea with fear, not hope, as the Syrian navy had begun off-shore bombardment of, according to one source, "anything that moved, and much of what did not."

But the sea was not the only threat, eyewitness reports and videos confirm that a heavy amount of ground forces, including tanks, heavy vehicles, and large numbers of troops, had also participated in the assault. After nightfall, there were reports that the soldiers had cut off at least one mosque, not allowing worshippers (and potential protesters) to gather for their nightly Ramadan ritual, Taraweeh prayer.

By the end of the day, multiple rights groups and activists (SRCU, LCCS, Avaaz, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) had reported between 23 and 25 civilian deaths, including three children.

While the world watches Lattakia, violence is still reported in Hama, Deir Ez Zor, and elsewhere.

And while the world watches Syria and Libya, the rest of the Arab Spring is slipping into the background. This assessment yesterday from Scott Lucas:

I can't help thinking that this is further evidence, following Abdullah's televised speech last week criticizing the Syrian regime and the withdrawal of Saudi, Kuwaiti, and Bahraini ambassadors from Damascus, of a co-ordinated approach between the US and the Gulf States.

That means constant and increasing political pressure on the Assad regime, but it also has other effects. With attention on Syria, Washington won't be saying anything of significance on Bahrain, where the Saudis have backed up the monarchy with political and military intervention.

And the US and Riyadh are likely to have agreed a watching but containing approach on Yemen, where no political movement is likely, while Washington seeks a free hand in "counter-terrorism" operations in the south of the country.

Today, Gaddafi is watching his opponents by land to make sure they don't reach the sea, the people of Lattakia eye both land and sea with great trepidation, and the rest of the region looks to Libya and Syria, wondering (and many hoping) that they will be the next dominos to fall.

It's been a boring Ramadan, hasn't it?