See Also, Bahrain Special: New Martyrs, New Protests, New Crackdown
Terrorism and UK Academia: Police Give £20,000 and Apology to Wrongly-Arrested Student
2112 GMT: James is taking a break, but he wanted to note that we've receieved dozens of protest videos from Syria, some of which we will put into a separate feature.
2106 GMT: This video claims to show protesters in the Alqarya area of Sitra, Bahrain, tonight, before the protesters are attacked by police:
Dissidents prepare to protest in Babar, Bahrain:
2051 GMT: Syrian expatriates have founded a 140 member transitional council in Turkey. The goal of the national council is to establish a vision for a post-Assad Syria, and to continue to organize peaceful pro-democracy protests:
At the meeting, 70 names were read out from a list of 140, as at least some of the rest cannot be named, possibly because they are inside Syria, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.
Others are in exile.
The opposition groups seem to have finally agreed to what is effectively an embryonic Syrian national assembly, says our correspondent.
For the first time, it has the full backing of all opposition groups inside and outside the country, and will now represent the opposition, he (opposition spokesman) adds.
2040 GMT: The Syrian government has filed a 'strong formal protest memorandum' to the Arab League to protest a meeting between Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and members of the Syrian opposition, Syrian State TV SANA reports.
2034 GMT: SANA has televised a "confession" of Lieutenant Colonel Hussein al-Harmoush. According to Al Jazeera, the Associated Press reported:
In the interview Harmoush, of the so-called Free Officers Movement, retracted comments he made earlier, in which he said he was ordered by his commanders to open fire at protesters.
He said that soon after his defection, he was contacted by opposition figures and groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam and Assad's uncle, Rifaat, offering to help his group financially.
"They were all empty promises," said Harmoush. He said they all stopped contacting him three months after his defection.
Harmoush said he was told by members of the Muslim Brotherhood that they smuggled weapons to armed elements in the central cities of Hama and Homs as well as the northwestern province of Idlib and a Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Latakia.
He has previously appeared in videos calling on the army to stand by the people instead of the regime.
2026 GMT: According to Syria State Run SANA TV, Lieutenant Colonel Hussein al-Harmoush, who defected from the military in June, was captured in Idlib this week and is going to "confess" on SANA soon. SANA also says it will be carrying the confession of an Israeli spy, who is supposed to reveal that Israel is behind all the protests and the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, a senior member of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The opposition is not buying it. Harmoush is a hero to the protesters, and they believe any "confession" would be coerced. This video reportedly shows protesters in Midan, Damascus, chanting in support of Harmoush tonight:
2013 GMT: Night protests in Qusour, Homs, where people chant that the want the fall of the regime:
Karam al-Shami, Homs:
2009 GMT: We have an unconfirmed report of protests in 16 villages in Bahrain, with police cracking down on protesters in many or all of them. The list of villages includes : Duraz, NabihSaleh, Sitra, Sehla, Bani-Jamra, Athari, Saar, Aldaih, Sanabis, Karbabad, Alnua'm, Sanad, Aldair, Ama'amir, Al-Aker, Nuwaidrat
1959 GMT: According to the sign held by the videographer, these was the scene this afternoon in Daraa, a massive security presence near the university, including artillery units that are facing the city (note, the date is in Arabic, and James is very proud that he was able to confirm that this is today's date - small victories):
1945 GMT: Another large protest tonight in Khalidiya, Homs:
James Miller quips that it is just another boring night in Syria, you know, where thousands of people protest in every city.
1932 GMT: Hundreds or thousands protest in Al Waar, Homs:
1912 GMT: In Syria, there were large protests in Hama, Homs, Idlib, and various other locations.
Tonight, there are once again large protests. This video reportedly shows Adanan, Aleppo:
In Hammourie, in the Damascus suburbs, protesters chant "People want to topple the regime" tonight:
Zamalka, Damascus:
1906 GMT: Once again, violence is reported in Sitra. A source sums up an eyewitness report:
Protesters in Sitra are being attacked by police force now after reaching to main roads by tear gas and rubber bullets
1857 GMT: Once again, we are receiving reports of protests in Bahrain. These two pictures were taken in Sihla within the hour:
1804 GMT: The latest report from NTC positions outside Sirte:
According to Al Jazeera, NTC fighters have fallen back from positions that they have occupied near Qaddafi's home city when they were hit with heavy artillery and rocket fire. Early signs look like Sirte is a far harder target than the NTC had initially hoped, and unlike Tripoli, it is unlikely that the people of Sirte will rise up against Qaddafi.
1620 GMT: Earlier we reported (1553 GMT) on protests at the funeral for funeral for Ahmad Othman Kotaimash, a corporal who was being buried north of Damascus. Activists are now saying that the corporal refused to shoot civilians in Homs and was killed by the Syrian military, a detail we only implied earlier.
1604 GMT:The Guardian's Chris Stephan writes from Misurata, Libya, about the NTC approach to Sirte from the west. The NTC fighters are now within 30 miles from the Qaddafi stronghold:
Nato planes are in the air, and the alliance reported destroying eight targets in Sirte overnight, part of a bombardment that has the western alliance strike nearly 300 targets in the city over the past three weeks.
NTC sources say negotiations over the peaceful surrender of the city broke down last weekend.
The opposition objective is to punch through the front and reach District One, inhabited by families originally from Misrata who NTC sources say are being held hostage by pro-Gaddafi militias.
"Answering to the call of our people in the city of Sirte and in order to remove the injustice inflicted upon them by the ousted tyrant, more than 900 armed car[s] went toward Sirte this morning," said the military council.
Loyalist forces are fighting back with artillery, mortars and long-range grad rockets.
Conditions for civilians inside Sirte are described as desperate, with water, power and food supplies cut.
The NTC forces are anxious to capture Sirte because it lies on lies on Libya's strategic coastal highway, in effect leaving the country split in two.
Nato is also anxious to get the war over, as its mandate runs out on 27 September, and Paris and London would prefer to have the war finished by then, rather than ask for an extension.
1553 GMT: An interesting video, uploaded today, claims to show a protest in Asal Al Ward, a northern suburb of Damascus, at the funeral for Ahmad Othman Kotaimash, a corporal in the Syrian army: UPDATE: Activists are now saying that the corporal refused to shoot civilians in Homs and was killed by the Syrian military, a detail we only inferred earlier:
1545 GMT: Al Jazeera is reporting that there have been air strikes, heavy gunfire, and artillery strikes in Arhab tribal region, 35 kilometers north of Sana'a.
1531 GMT: And yet another. This video, clearly taken by a member of the Syrian security forces, shows a plain-clothed man beating a protester while soldiers hold him in position:
1518 GMT: Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan is touring the Middle East and speaking in favor of a Palestinian state. The move is part of his efforts to set Turkey as a leader in the post-Arab Spring region, but it is also an effort to pressure Israel into changing its policies towards Palestine. Al Jazeera sums it up nicely:
Whatever else you want to say about Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister has timing. Just days before the Palestinian Authority takes its statehood application to the UN, just days after fierce Egyptian protests drove Israeli embassy staff out of the country, and one week after Turkey dramatically downgraded its relations with Israel, Erdogan kicked off an "Arab uprisings" tour to a hero's welcome in Egypt. As Erdogan stepped off a plane to cheers and unity chants - Time magazine reported he was "greeted like a rock star" - it was clear the intention was to signal Turkey's positioning at the heart of a new regional politics.
Central to this regional dynamic (and much more so, now that public sentiments are no longer muzzled by repressive rulers) is the Palestinian struggle. Calling it an "obligation" to support the Palestinian statehood bid, Erdogan told a meeting at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo that "the Palestinian flag has to flutter at the UN".
This scenario combines all of Israel's fears in one setting: two significant and previously manageable Muslim allies, with whom relations have deteriorated, meeting to discuss strategic ties, while at the same time backing the Palestinian proposal, about which Israel is already in a panic.
1450 GMT: Another hard to watch video, this one reportedly showing Syrian military beating young protesters in Hula, Homs:
1442 GMT: This video is reportedly taken today in Taiz, Yemen. The military attempts to disperse a protest with tear gas, fire houses, and live ammunition... but the protest doesn't look like it's dispersing:
1437 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog, and he has just finished a new article, Bahrain Special: New Martyrs, New Protests, New Crackdown
1135 GMT: Footage of military vehicles in the northwestern Syrian town of Jabal al-Zawiya:
1130 GMT: A source from Bahrain reports that the family of Sayad Jawad, who died from tear gas inhalation in Sitra in Bahrain yesterday, are refusing to take the body for burial because hospital authorities are insisting on writing the cause of death as "sickle cell anemia".
1030 GMT: Claimed footage of security forces shooting tear gas and rubber bullets in Sitra in Bahrain last night (see 0545 GMT). In the background, cars are backed up in a traffic jam caused by police checkpoints:
The forces were reportedly trying to disperse protests by people who had learned of the death of Sayad Jawad earlier in the day from tear gas inhalation.
Jawad's funeral is scheduled for 3 p.m. local time today.
0930 GMT: Lots of media fuss about the arrival of British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Tripoli to meet the leaders of Libya's National Transitional Council --- we will refrain from any posts until the meetings are concluded or there is a development of significance.
0900 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims more than 126 people have been arrested by Syrian security forces in the last three days in the Damascus suburbs of Madaya and Zabadani.
0830 GMT: The Associated Press, in an article carried in The Washington Post, notes the firing of tear gas by Bahraini security forces on protesters in Sitra yesterday.
AP, however, does not mention the death of Sayad Jawad from tear gas inhalation (see 0600 GMT).
[AP updated the report just before 1500 GMT: "Relatives of a man in Bahrain say he has died after inhaling tear gas fired by security forces trying to disperse anti-government protesters."]
0730 GMT: Images of overnight protest throughout Syria --- first, demonstrators in the Qusour section of Homs:
Rankous --- "We are asking for it day and night. We want your execution, Bashar."
And the Kafarsouseh district of Damascus:
0715 GMT: The Washington Post profiles Ghiyath Matter, the human rights activist who died in detention --- allegedly from torture --- last week in Damascus. Soon, however, the article becomes a pessimistic portrayal of protest in the face of the crackdown by security forces and intelligence services in the Syrian capital --- this can be contrasted with EA's portrayal of the continuing force of dissent outside Damascus, including the videos in this LiveBlog:
Out of the spotlight, a systematic sweep of activists in the Damascus area has netted dozens of key players in recent weeks, including Matar, chilling the protest movement there and casting into doubt prospects that the capital will one day be able to muster the momentum needed to seriously challenge the Assad regime in the one place where it really matters.The momentum is “dying” in Damascus, said Alexander Page, an activist based in the capital who uses a pseudonym to protect his identity. He said he knew Matar and has seen nearly 20 other colleagues disappear into detention. “A lot of people have gone into hiding, and a lot of people are not taking part in protests,” he said.
Many activists suspect that informants have penetrated their ranks. Some believe captured protesters have divulged names under torture. Increasingly, the security forces seem to know in advance when a protest is planned and are on hand to round up the participants. Other activists have been caught in sting operations similar to the one that snared Matar, who had been in hiding for months after his prominent role leading demonstrators in chants of “peaceful, peaceful” drew the attention of authorities.
0700 GMT: A sign of the effect of the political crisis on Syria's economy --- traffic at the ports of Latakia and Tartous is down 35-40% in the first eight months of this year.
0630 GMT: Two civilians died on Thursday when a shell hit their house amidst renewed fighting in the Yemeni capital Sana'a between forces loyal to President Saleh and the tribesmen of Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar.
The clashes occurred in the Hasaba district of the capital, where al-Ahmar is based. A 14-year-old boy was also killed and five people wounded during an exchange of fire that followed two blasts near a police station in the port city of Aden.
0615 GMT: In Libya, US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman met leaders of the National Transitional Council on Wednesday.
No details were given of the discussions. Instead, Feltman used a press conference both to offer re-assurances on the new Libyan leadership and to make clear that the US was putting an emphasis on counter-terrorism:
The Islamists, as we would probably define them, seem to be a relatively small percentage of both the leadership and the rank and file, as best as we can tell. It is a very religiously devout population and heavily tribal. The tribal allegiances are kicking in to soften or mitigate or cancel out the more Islamic leanings, pulling those who might go astray back into the tribes."The debate over this whole question has shifted significantly, evolving away from the fear that some people had about is the revolution being kidnapped by others, to how do we centralize the demands of the fighters, how best do we build an inclusive system for the interim period that allows people to work out their differences. It's really a far different debate than it was even a few weeks ago.
Feltman then explained that the US had co-operated with the Qaddafi regime to round up terror suspects:
0600 GMT: We begin this morning in Bahrain, where a 35-year-old man, Sayad Jawad was killed by tear gas inhalation as security forces fired on protesters in Sitra.
A teenager was also reportedly in critical condition after being run over by a jeep. None of this, however, was admitted by the regime: instead the State news agency reported that Jawad had died of "sickle cell anemia".