Syria 1st-Hand: An Interrogation
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: 24/7 Conflict
1955 GMT: Night protests in Al Mayadin, Deir Ez Zor:
1953 GMT: The people of Amouda, al Hasaka, Syria, protest tonight:
1930 GMT: The United states has officially transferred the Libyan embassy in Washington DC to the National Transitional Council. The transfer happened last week, a symbolic victory for the opposition force in Libya which now has an embassy that used to belong to Colonel Gaddafi.
1906 GMT: More footage from Hama. In light of the last batch, it may be interesting to think that soldiers may be some of these videographers, but we do not know for sure:
On the other hand, these signs have anti-government messages, and soldiers are nowhere to be seen. Has the Syrian military actually withdrawn from Hama?
This video, claiming to be shot today, shows children, and a tank, in the street in Deir Ez Zor.
1839 GMT: Former Syrian defense minster General Ali Habib said today on State TV (SANA) that he was not fired or killed, but stepped down from his post because of health issues. He also said that he stands with President Bashar al Assad's decisions.
1833 GMT: A new video has surfaced, a sergeant in the Syrian army who condemns the violence and pledges his defection to the opposition. This videos are basically impossible to verify, but they come in periodically as a reminder that there are members of the military who are refuse to follow orders.
1814 GMT: A new series of videos has come to our attention, clearly taken by a soldier and "leaked" out of Asi Square, Hama. They show a group of soldiers and tanks in Hama. The scene is quiet, REALLY quiet, and the troops don't seem to be moving. As of right now, we don't know what to make of them. Is this the military's attempt to show that there is peace in Hama? Is it a disgruntled soldier trying to leak bad press to the outside world? Perhaps it is just a soldier giving us a snapshot in time, when he is not busy. We're hoping we get some context soon, but information from Hama is hard to come by as the military is blocking out most communications in the area:
1742 GMT: Shooting in Lattakia:
This video shows large troop movements, we believe in the area of Ugarit, near Lattakia:
A funeral in Zamalka, Damascus:
1739 GMT: Protesters call for the fall of the regime in Ugarit, Idlib:
1736 GMT: A funeral protest today in Daraa, Syria:
1728 GMT: This video was reportedly taken in Homs, Dablan Street, where a large anti-government protest is reported:
1721 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria (LCCS) and the Syrian Revolution Coordinators' Union (SRCU) are both reporting that 22 people have been killed today in Syria, including 8 children. The casualties are reported in Hama, Deir Ez Zor, Idlib province, Homs, Hawleh, and Horan.
1718 GMT: In London, the old Libyan flag is raised above the Libyan embassy, to the cheers of the crowds below:
1714 GMT: Turkey's foreign minister has replied to the Assad regime (see update below) that it is important to distinguish between civilians and terrorists. Meanwhile, according to Al Arabiya, Egypt's foreign minister says that Syria is heading towards the point of no return.
1708 GMT: Syria's SANA state television is reporting that Bashar al Assad has told Turkey's foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, that his security forces will "not relent in pursuing terrorist groups." In other words, don't expect the military situation in Syria to die down any time soon.
1529 GMT: The Gaddafi regime is accusing NATO of a "massacre" in which 85 civilians were allegedly killed in the village of Majer, near the embattled town of Zlitan:
Thirty three children, 20 men and 32 women were killed in NATO air strikes launched in support of the rebels, regime spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said on Tuesday.
Three bombs struck an area of the village at around 11pm local time, he said, and when others rushed to help, three more bombs hit.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from near Zlitan, could not confirm the report.
This building was destroyed by a NATO air strike yesterday. It reportedly was being used to repair and service Gaddafi's vehicles in the embattled town of Bir al-Ghanam. The rebels took control of the town on Saturday, but battles are still raging nearby [image: Reuters]:
1457 GMT: This video may be the most important and impressive video of the week. It claims to be leaked footage, filmed by Syrian soldiers, of an all-out assault on the city of Deir Ez Zor. We cannot verify it, though so many activists have already posted video of tanks and troops in the area in the last few days, claims which the Syrian State Television denies.
The source is highly reliable, a go-to source for video. We suspect that it is real, taken from Deir Ez Zor within the last few days. Why was it filmed? We've seen many videos taken by Syrian soldiers since March, perhaps because they are proud of their work, perhaps because they are ashamed of it, or a mixture.
1448 GMT: James Miller reporting for duty...
This video, uploaded today, claims to show tanks moving into the city of Binnish, in Idlib province, which matches information we've received today:
1250 GMT: Back from an academic break to find the news, according to a local activist in northwestern Syria that twenty-three tanks and armoured vehicles entered the town of Binnish at 4 a.m. The activist said, "They shot missiles which hit two houses. The forces started to enter houses and arrest people; fathers and brothers, and some young boys. We know of one 15-year-old who has been detained."
Two people have reportedly been killed in Binnish and Sirmeen, which was also raided by the army.
The Syrian Local Co-ordination Committees said "more than 18 tanks and 20 armoured BMP and BTR vehicles" entered the two towns with "heavy shelling of houses and residential areas".
0815 GMT: Activists claim military operations have continued this morning in the northeastern city of Deir Ez Zor, as security forces arrest residents. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday. The activist group said two people were killed today after after five were slain on Monday.
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC) said the army moved into the northwestern town of Sirmeen with heavy gunfire and "a wave of raids" on houses.
0555 GMT: The marches continue in Yemen for a transition of power --- last night in Taiz:
0550 GMT: In Syria, a mass rally in the coastal city of Lattakia last night calls for the fall of the Assad regime:
0500 GMT: We start this morning with Libya, eclipsed in recent weeks by the drama in Syria.
The pressure on the Qaddafi regime has been building on the military front, as the insurgents have been making stuttering but now clear advances in the west towards Tripoli on three fronts: in the western mountains, along the coast west of the capital, and east of the capital between Tripoli and opposition-held Misurata.
The story that caught our eye, however, was this video documenting the pressure on daily life in Tripoli, not to mention the regime's energy supplies:
The Daily Telegraph of London offers an explanation for the energy squeeze:
Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, said rebel forces had sabotaged a section of a pipeline carrying fuel supplies to the regime’s only electricity plant, knocking out one section and interrupting the flow through a second pipe. As a result there would be permanent damage to the regime’s generating capacity.“The rebels turned off a valve and poured cement over it,” he said. “It took two days to clear the mess but even then there are disruptions. These attacks are aimed at starving and displacing the Libyan people and causing a humanitarian crisis.”
Blackouts are in force across Tripoli and residents breached the culture of fear to denounce the shortages.
But the troubles are not just for the regime. The opposition, after the assassination of its military commander-in-chief Abdel Fattah Younes, has been riven by uncertainty and suspicion. On Monday, the head of the National Transitional Council, Moustafa Abdel Jalil, disbanded the Executive Council and dismissed several senior ministers, including those responsible for finance, defense and information.
An NTC official, Mohamed El-Kish, some ministers may be reappointed, but "a few will definitely not come back."
The Council has been criticised sharply over the Younes case --- an arrest warrant was signed by senior NTC executive member Ali Essawy, and the general was being brought back to the opposition centre in Benghazi when he and two senior aides were murdered.