Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching Homs

The clashes between President Saleh's forces and protesters in Yemen's capital Sana'a today --- 25+ protesters were killed and 100s injured

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2100 GMT: Raw footage from Reuters of the events in Sana'a in Yemen today, with security forces killing dozens of protesters:

2020 GMT: A vivid example from Bahrain of the difficulty of establishing "truth" from video without context....

An activist challenging the regime has sent us a clip, following the funeral in Damistan of Jaffar Hassan Yousef (see entries through LiveBlog today), of people from the procession chanting and throwing objects at police vehicles. An activist supporting the regime has sent us a similar video.

So did the incident take place before or after the reported disruption of the funeral procession --- or, in the words of the pro-regime activist, "violent political protest" --- by security forces?

Meanwhile, an opposition protest in Aldair:

2010 GMT: A march in Aden in Yemen tonight, condemning the killing of protesters in Sana'a:

2000 GMT: Images from the funeral of Jaffar Hassan Yousef, allegedly beaten to death by police in his home --- including his photos held by his son and daughter --- at his funeral today (see 1425 GMT):

1920 GMT: Back to where we started today --- protesters in the Bab Amr section of Homs in Syria chant tonight, "People want freedom, our demands are legitimate, we have no sectarianism":

1910 GMT: Dr Mohammad al Qubati describes the situation in a field hospital in Sana'a in Yemen:

And journalist Tom Finn has this summary:

There was four to five hours of continuous shooting. I have been hearing gunshots and rifle fire and also louder explosions.

I am inside this make-shift hospital [in a mosque] that is completely full to the brim. In a corner of the mosque, there are 16 corpses laid down and most of them have been shot in the head. And most of them are under the age of 22. I saw one that was 16 years old.

As I understand it, there were thousands of people that were running during the march. They were much angrier than I have seen them before.

As I understand it, the first people to fire on protesters were not police or soldiers, but plain-clothed government supporters.

There are three other hospitals in Sanaa that are filled to the brim with injured. One doctor said he expects the death toll to rise over 50 by tomorrow morning.

1850 GMT: EA's Josh Shahryar, on his Twitter feed, has listed the names of 15 protesters who were killed in Sana'a in Yemen today --- they are taken from the LiveStream of the incident. Three bodies cannot be identified, and other casualties are still to be processed.

1845 GMT: Yemen's Minister of Interior, Motahar Rashad al-Masri, says that today's demonstration in Sanaa, in which dozens of protesters were killed and hundreds were injured by security forces, "was not licensed".

1835 GMT: Syrian Twitter users are reporting that the website platform WordPress, used by many bloggers, is blocked by Internet providers throughout the country.

1830 GMT: Claimed footage of Colonel Hussein, a battalion commander, being detained by National Transitional Council fighters outside Sirte on Saturday:

1810 GMT:Activists in Syria say 11-year-old Ibrahim Mohammed al-Farouj, from Sanamein in the south, was shot dead as students protested against the government on the first day of the new school year.

Al-Farouj was reportedly killed by a bullet to the head. Another child was arrested in the Ghouta district at Homs, according to activists. Troops in other areas allegedly used live ammunition to disperse students who had boycotted classes, chanting, "No studying, no teaching until the President is toppled." Video posted online showed children in another school in the city trampling on posters of Assad, while children at yet another school tore up their citizenship textbooks.

Some schools remained closed because they had been used as holding centres for detained protesters or because teachers had been arrested, according to sources. Sameh al-Hamwi, an activist in Hama, said that more than half the parents in the city were planning to keep their children at home amid fears for their safety.

1710 GMT: A report from an eyewitness in Sana'a in Yemen, "They [security forces] were on the buildings. They started shooting at us, targeting heads & torsos."

1700 GMT: A curfew for 8 p.m. local time has been imposed on Dimestan, the Bahraini town where security forces disrupted the funeral procession for Jaffar Hassan Yousef (see 1425 GMT).

1610 GMT: The LiveStream covering today's shootings of protesters in Change Square in the Yemeni capital Sana'a now says there are at least 30 killed and hundreds injured. A graphic YouTube video of the some of the slain and injured has been posted.

1530 GMT: There is a report from Sana'a

in Yemen that protesters are throwing Molotov cocktails at the army, who are shooting at them from buildings."

1510 GMT: Journalist Tom Finn at the field hospital in Yemen's capital Sana'a: "Inside the field hospital, blood all over the floor, dead bodies being piled up, doctor tells me death toll is 22 so far. White clothes being laid over the corpses. Women & men sobbing. Very little room left inside the field hospital/mosque."

1450 GMT: Freelance journalist Tom Finn writes from a field hospital in the Yemeni capital Sana'a after the attack on protesters by regime forces, "I can count 20 dead bodies, more are being brought in."

Earlier Al Arabiya reports that Saleh forces attacked the home of opposition tribal leader Sheikh Sadeq al-Ahmar in the Hasaba section of Sana'a. An al-Ahmar source said the troops used machine guns and mortars. The source said, “The shelling is targeting us from several directions but we have not responded as sheikh Sadiq has given us orders not to respond."

Yemen’s Minister of Interior Motahar Rashad al-Masri claimed, “Ahmar’s gunmen, deployed on rooftops, opened fire on the Ministry of Interior and policemen who were having their lunch.” The troops “responded only to silence the source of fire. We are committed to self-restraint based on the orders of Vice President [Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi]."

1445 GMT: We are waiting for confirmed information before putting out a casualty total, but it appears that scores have been wounded in Change Square in the Yemeni capital Sana'a by forces loyal to President Saleh (see 1415 GMT for video). One journalist writes, "Gunshots still firing. Ambulance driver shouting "only those with bullet wounds!" scores passed out on the ground from tear gas." An activist sends the message, "The makeshift hospital in change sq. in #Sanaa sends an emergency call to all doctors to join becuz of the huge number of injuries."

1425 GMT: EA sources are reporting an attack by Bahraini security forces on a funeral procession today in Dimstan for Jaffar Hassan Yousef, who allegedly died from injuries inflicted by police who beat him in his home.

Before the clash, mourners shouted against the King, "Down, down, Hamad", and chanted, hanting "I sign my coffin, with the words: I love my country"

1415 GMT: A LiveStream is broadcasting graphic images of injured protesters from a field hospital at Change Square in the Yemeni capital Sana'a after an apparent attack by President Saleh's forces

1410 GMT: Meeting a delegation from the Russian Parliament today, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned that foreign intervention would alienate countries in the region and elevate the danger of extremism.

Assad said every reform step endorsed by the his regime was met with an escalation of foreign pressures, adding to interference and an attempt to undermine Syrian security and stability through armed terrorist operations against civilians, army personnel, and security agents.

A demonstration in Douma this morning challenging the regime:

And children in Kanaker in the Damascus suburbs chant, "People want the execution of the President":

1355 GMT: Reporting on Saturday's meeting of almost 200 members of the opposition outside Damascus (see 0645 GMT), Hassan Abdel Azim, a member of the National Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change, said today, "We need to end the tyrannical security regime. We must overthrow the tyranny and the security (agents). We welcome all those who have no blood on their hands."

A statement read by Abd-Azizi Khayer of the Coordinating Committee stressed the need for a "peaceful struggle" and denounced "the military-security option chosen by the government to suppress peaceful demonstrators." It continued, "We must end the military solution, allow peaceful protests, withdraw the army to the barracks, try those responsible for the massacre of protesters, release all political prisoners and begin reconciliation between the army and the people."

Samir Aita, editor of Le Monde Diplomatique in Arabic and European representative of the Coordinating Committee, announced a meeting on 23 September in Berlin, Germany. "It is necessary to unify (opposition) efforts for the change to happen," he said, "[We must] unite around common goals."

1350 GMT: Back from a break to find this footage of a rally in Taiz in Yemen today, protesting the conversion of a educational facility into a military building:

0850 GMT: Last night we noted a rally by thousands in Riffa in Bahrain in a "Gathering of National Unity". Some useful detail on the demonstration....

First, it was not simply a rally for the monarchy and the regime. The National Unity Assembly, which organised the gathering, is calling for Parliament to be given more authority to appoint Government ministers and pass laws, as well as demanding that ministers be questioned in open meetings and not just by committees.

NUA Secretary-General Abdulla Al Howaihi put forth the demands, while at the same time declaring that "the main reason" for the challenge to the regime since February "is [that] Iran, Israel and the US and some people inside are responsible for what happened and are using internal problems to do it". He continued:

We think Parliament has done nothing in the last 10 years, also there is corruption of some powers in Bahrain which has not made the correct direction for Bahrain and all has been used by these people to push the situation in Bahrain and what happened.

Al Howaihi also criticised the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, commissioned by King Hamad, for wrongly interfering in Bahrain's justice system: "They asked to release some people that were arrested at that time of the unrest and we want to stop it....We think some illegal organisations were those who hit our people and caused injuries to them. These illegal groups are terrorist groups, it's not about Sunni or Shia."

Al Howaihi declared, "We want to stop the copying of what happened in Iraq happen to Bahrain. If we allow it, these people will rule and kill our people. In Iraq, people were killed and arrested, humiliated and tortured and kicked from their homes."

0830 GMT: The Bahraini opposition group 14 February Youth has called for "the chain of dignity", an event in which protesters would drive their cars on Bahrain main roads to cause traffic jams. Participants have been instructed not to chant slogans or indicate that they are anti-regime.

The protest is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

0800 GMT: The battles in Libya for the Qaddafi strongholds of Bani Walid and Sirte continue, with Qaddafi loyalists offering stiff resistance even as the National Transitional Council's military spokesman said that it was only a "matter of days" before the two towns are captured.

Al Jazeera English's Anita McNaught,said there was no fighting planned for Saturday "but forces loyal to Gaddafi attacked from within and took potshots at the [NTC fighters]....Their artillery aim is pretty good these days....Today was for consolidation and lessons learned from yesterday, which ultimately achieved little more than getting people killed and demonstrating the strength of pro-Qaddafi forces."

A photograph of a Qaddafi-era Scud missile seized by NTC fighters outside Sirte:

0720 GMT: In Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has made a televised speech. One of his suggestions: Bahrainis should stop watching news 20 times a day and watch it only twice.

0710 GMT: A high-level Saudi official claimed today that Yemeni Vice-President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, will sign the Gulf Co-operation Council's initiative "within a week" for the transfer of power in Yemen, a high-level Saudi official has told reporters.

On Monday, President Ali Abdullah Saleh authorised Hadi to negotiate with the opposition. Saleh has been recovering in Saudi Arabia from injuries in a bombing at the start of June.

On Saturday, thousands of protesters stormed Sana'a University in the capital, preventing the first day of classes as they called for an end to Saleh's regime.

Despite the Saudi claims, there may be sticking points in the supposed agreement. The official said, "Among the guarantees demanded by Saleh are that his son be kept in the next government", a demand rejected by the protesters and Saleh's political opponents.

0645 GMT: The daily pattern of protests and clashes in Syria continued on Saturday. Activists claimed that at least eight people were killed as demonstrations continued into the night. 

We are seeing a significant ripple, however, in Homs. There is a lot of video coming out of Syria's third-largest city of mass rallies. People's spirits appears to be high, and some of the slogans are provocative, to say the least, with the call for the execution of the Syrian President. At the same time, there are reports that the Internet and communications have been cut and that security forces are making arrests.

So are we seeing a possible flashpoint, with the military moving in to suppress a potential flashpoint in the opposition to the regime?

Elsewhere, the National Co-ordinating Body, a new opposition movement declared by activists inside and outside Syria, said that a meeting with about 200 participants took place inside the country on Saturday. A news conference is promised for Sunday in Damascus, with plans for an executive council of about 60 members and an executive bureau.

The Local Coordination Committees activists claim that security forces have entered the town of Da'eel in south. 

And Syrian state media focused Saturday night on the televised "confession" of Eyad Youssef Enaim, a Jordanian-Palestinian man who said he worked for Israel in the assassination of Hezbollah military commander Imad Moughniyah in Damascus three years ago.

Enaim said he was recruited by Israel in 2006. He explained that he was sent to Damascus by Israeli handlers in February 2008 and gave them details of Moughniyah's car hours before it was blown up on 12 February.

Syrian state TV, which broadcast a "confession" earlier this week by a Lieutenant-Colonel who defected in June but has been arrested, said Enaim's comments showed the extent of foreign plots against Syria.