Syria, Yemen, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Children Chant in Damascus, Protesters Die in Sana'a

Children in the Kisweh section of Damascus chant,  "No studying, no teaching until the President falls"

See also Yemen Analysis: The Latest Deaths and the Mistakes of US Policy (Johnsen)

Egypt Letter: Activist Wael Ghonim Asks Military Rulers For Change, Dialogue, and Democracy
Yemen Video Special: The Killing of the Protesters in Sana'a
Sunday's Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching Homs

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2030 GMT: Today was a very important day for two countries, where we witnessed a dramatic escalation in Yemen and the shutdown of an entire city in Bahrain. In Syria, large protests continued, despite more violence.

This video reportedly shows a large protest in the al Saqba district of Damascus:

And this video was taken in Al Hula, Homs, where 9 people were killed by security forces today. That alone would make it important. But it is unique in and of itself, because of the unique messages, written in English, on the signs that the protesters are holding:

Muslim or Christian, we all want freedom

Religion is for God, but Syria is for All Syrians

Large night protests in Dael, Daraa:

And in Khalidiya, Homs, the site of much violence and a brutal crackdown that has been intensifying in recent days, the people chant that they want the execution of President Bashar al Assad:

Our coverage will begin early tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

2010 GMT: While the violence was breaking out in Yemen, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and Saudi King Abdullah met to discuss the events in Yemen. It was the first such meeting since Saleh entered Saudi Arabia after being injured in an explosion last in June.

The United Nations envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar, arrived in Sana’a today along with GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al Zayani for meetings, the state-run Saba news agency said. Saleh authorized Vice President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi to begin a dialogue with the opposition aimed at implementing the Gulf- brokered power-transfer initiative, Saba said Sept. 12.

Both sides should “disengage forces immediately and avoid escalation,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an e- mailed statement today.

1839 GMT: Meanwhile, in Egypt, the establishment of the Jama'a al-Islamiya's party has rejected by the parties affairs committee on grounds that the party is a purely religious organization, which is in violation of Egyptian law:

Jama'a al-Islamiya, the largest former jihad movement in Egypt, said in June that it intended to establish a political party and filed for its recognition in August.

1835 GMT: This video purports to show Bahraini police firing what appears to be tear gas directly at a person who has been videotaping their actions, reportedly in Sitra today:

1804 GMT: Laura Kasinof, from the New York Times, writes:

its official: Sanaa Airport is closed. It’s the first time this has happened since the uprising began

Though the shelling has reportedly stopped, for now, the situation in Sana'a is far from normal.

1731 GMT: Two thematic videos. The first reportedly shows students protesting in Madaya, Damascus. The second reportedly shows students burning text books, open to pictures of President Bashar al Assad, in Khatab, Hama. Both groups of students are saying the same thing:

“No studies will be held until the president is toppled,” and, “The students want the president to be executed.”

1724 GMT: The National Transitional Council's fighters may have won another major victory in Libya:

Al Jazeera correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra reports that anti-Gaddafi forces have captured Sabha airport and taken control of the southern city's Manshiya district. Sabha, deep in the Sahara desert, is one of the last redoubts held by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

Ahmed Bani, a military spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC), told a news conference in Tripoli the council's forces captured the areas two hours earlier.

"Our flags are flying there," he told reporters.

1716 GMT: A source in Bahrain uploads this video, police shooting tear gas (or a flash grenade) as a woman who is already running away. The canister explodes very close to her.The video was reportedly taken today near the protests for Sayed Jawad in Sitra, Bahrain.

Multiple deaths have been reported recently that have been caused by misuse of "non-lethal" weapons, including the suffocation death of Sayed Jawad and his 14 year old relative Ali Jawad who was shot in the eye.

1707 GMT: According to the Yemen Post News, at least three people have been killed by government forces today in Taiz.

1659 GMT: This picture reportedly shows helicopters looking for protesters near Sitra, Bahrain, after they were dispersed earlier in the evening:

1654 GMT: This video reportedly shows the main roads into Sitra being closed off by police in Bahrain:

A source notes that after evening prayers the situation has calmed.

"Except for the villages Kharijiya, Waddyan and Alqurraya the other 4 villages seems calmed down"

1648 GMT: Back from break.

This GRAPHIC video reportedly shows a "hospital among olive trees" in Jabal Al-Zawye, Idlib, Syria, for protesters who are wounded because State hospitals are unsafe. In recent weeks, Syrian military reportedly stormed a hospital and removed patients from the operating room, and some hospitals have been closed by security in advance of security crackdowns, so that wounded protesters have nowhere to go.

1545 GMT: The international desk at CNN tweets:

Officials from the UN and the GCC were in Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday, hoping to help organize a peaceful transfer of power

An EA correspondent notes:

Does CNN realise how ludicrous this Tweet appears?

1539 GMT: Tom Finn, a freelance journalist in Yemen, has the following updates:

Back in field hospital, Adraba Al-Shadadi, head of troops guarding change square is being treated for injuries. Can hear shelling in the [background]

Most of those being treated in here are defected soldiers. This is shifting from a crackdown on protesters to a military standoff

1532 GMT: Among the horrors that we have seen from Sana'a, Yemen, today... a 10-month old baby with a bullet in its head, and this EXTREMELY GRAPHIC video of a man carrying his own arm into the hospital.

1526 GMT: Our source in Bahrain had this report about 25 minutes ago:

Just reaches to Sitra, main entrance is blocked about 30 jeeps parked at the entrance, trying to find an entrance to get in.

Now, they have these updates:

Managed to get in, small villages such as Alqarya and Kharjya roads looks like as it is a war-zone Roads are blocked by stones & objects.

It's getting darker helicopter with spot light is searching villages searching for protesters.

1515 GMT: More on the attack in al Hula, Homs. Now Lebanon, citing Shaam News, has this report:

Security forces shot a four-year old boy in the leg in the Homs town of Al-Houla

1511 GMT: According to the Syrian Revolution General Commission, the death toll for a shooting in Hula, Homs, has risen to 9.

1505 GMT: While those protests were going on in Bahrain (see below), police on foot in Alkharjya village, Sitra, Bahrain, were reportedly tearing down pictures of the martyrs that had been posted on the walls of the street:

Also, a picture has been circulating on Twitter, allegedly a the arm of a man who claims he was hit by a police jeep.

1458 GMT: A third exclusive video from Sitra, Bahrain. This reportedly shows a large protest during a funeral procession for martyr Sayed Jawad, just moments before the procession is attacked by police. On activist is holding a sign that reads "Down with Hamad," the king of Bahrain:

1451 GMT: Our source in Bahrain points us to a picture of a child who has reportedly been suffocated by tear gas. We do not believe he passed away, but his condition is unknown.

1447 GMT: Skipping over to our other breaking story, EA Correspondent Josh Shahryar can confirm that there are 23 bodies in a hospital in Sana'a, Yemen, and we have both seen video of a 10 year old boy with a hole in his forehead:

Suhail TV now claims that there were at least 25 people killed. I saw at least 23 dead bodies.

There are images of a street covered in bloodied pieces of human flesh, bones, skin and hair, like a pile of rubble. RPG, likely.

1441 GMT: A second exclusive video, uploaded just moments ago and taken just moments ago, given to EA from a source in Sitra, Bahrain, where people mourning Sayed Jawad have reportedly been attacked by police:

1428 GMT: A source in Bahrain says that there are protests and clashes right now in Sitra. These updates started approximately 15 minutes ago:

At the moment thousands are gathered in Sitra to participate in last day of martyr S.Jawad funeral

Reports And pix of lots of police force gathered in Sitra entrance.

Mourners in Sitra are under attack right now:

This is a breaking story. Stay tuned.

1420 GMT: The 2011 Damascus Annual Film Festival has been cancelled. No reason was given. You can guess.

1416 GMT: The Guardian has posted a video of a doctor in Sana'a, Yemen, who (in English) asks for help from the international community:

"Yemeni people they are dying," he said. "They [the Yemeni government] are not human beings. They don't have any sympathies. We want to get rid of them. The people are suffering and they [the government] are loving what they are doing. Please do something [for] our people."

1410 GMT: This video claims to show Syrian military and Shabiha firing at unarmed protesters in Qaboun, Damascus, yesterday. Earlier we noted a video of soldiers beating a man in the same area:

1403 GMT: Reauters is reporting that the people in Sana'a, Yemen, came under attack by heavy machine guns, and possible RPGs or similar explosives, citing a doctor who has been treating the wounds:

"We have seen gunshot wounds, some were from heavier weapons like ... RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," said Dr. Mohammed al-Qubati at a field hospital in the Yemeni capital. "I keep hearing the shelling and thinking there will only be more coming." - Reuters

1355 GMT: EA correspondent Josh Shahryar is providing leading coverage of Yemen. Combining his contacts with a live translation of a VERY GRAPHIC stream from the hospital in Sana'a, he is reports that the confirmed body count has risen to 22:

Yesterday, there were three rows of bodies, today, there are four rows now. Waiting to get more names. 22 confirmed.

1333 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog and shakes his head. It always gets busy when he takes time off.

Another report from Tom Finn in Yemen:

about 2 p.m. Heavy shelling in Izra'a & Zubayri near to Change Square, lots of injured (defected) soldiers being brought into the field hospital.

1300 GMT: An opposition protest in

A sit-in in front of thehouse of the detainee Hussain Mayof, demanding his immediate release with other political prisoners:

1240 GMT: Claimed video, from Saqba in Syria, of a funeral turning into an anti-regime protest calling for the release of detainees:

A student march in Madaya, northwestern of Damascus:

1230 GMT: Activists, watching the LiveStream of Yemen's Suhail TV, have identified and a list of names of 13 of the 21 people killed today in Sana'a.

An Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent says most of those killed were on Hayel Street in central Sana'a. Two are childen; at least three are soldiers.

1150 GMT: Claimed footage of Syrian security forces beating a man in the Qaboun section of Damascus yesterday:

1140 GMT: Video of an opposition protest in Dair in Bahrain last night, with claimed footage of clashes with security forces later:

1130 GMT: Tom Finn writes from Sana'a, "Tearful doctor grabbing me by the arm saying, 'Please, I beg the international community to intervene in Yemen and stop this massacre.'"

1125 GMT: In Khorbet Ghazale in Daraa Provice in southern Syria, students chant, "Death but not humiliation":

And students in al-Harak in the south chant, "Come on leave, Bashar":

1045 GMT: A surreal update from Tom Finn in Sana'a: "Car just shot past with a man holding a severed arm out of the window, heavy explosions now, sounds like shelling."

Activists on Twitter are claiming at least 20 people have been killed in Sana'a today.

1015 GMT: Six people are reported to have been killed in fresh clashes in the Yemeni capital Sana'a today. Al Jazeera Arabic says two more people have died in Taiz.

Reports confirm that the fighting in Sana'a is between regime forces and the 1st Armoured Division of defected General Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar. Activist Ibrahim Saleh writes:

There are clashes between security forces and the defected first armoured forces. Both sides use anti aircraft guns and RPGs. The first armoured are making progress. The Republican Guards have joined the security forces but they are still in retreated.

1005 GMT: Media attention today to Abdel Hakim Belhadj, head of the newly-formed Tripoli Military Council. Reuters features an interview in which Belhadj, an "Islamist", declares his desire for a democratic civil state:

Libya will be built by all Libyans....They have a big challenge, which is building a democratic and modern, civil state with rules, governed with justice and equality.

As for the form of the government, this depends on Libyans' choice. Democracy has more than one form. The most important thing is whoever rules, rules justly and gives opportunity to the people without dictatorship, even if it is wrapped with democracy.

Al Jazeera English has this video profile:

1000 GMT: The Associated Press reports that at least 3000 people marched through the streets of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, on Sunday, chanting slogans against regime corruption.

The march featured activists wearing masks portraying three of King Mohammed VI’s top counselors, riding backwards on donkeys, as the crowd chanted, “Head of the army, it’s too much; head of the religion, it’s too much,” referring to the powers retained by the King under the revised Constitution.

Another 2,000 people demonstrated in the port city of Tangier, chanting for the fall of the Government.

Morocco will hold parliamentary elections on 25 November.

0930 GMT: According to a Reuters cameraman, cited by journalist Tom Finn, "Protesters were dancing and singing early this morning when security forces first opened fire."

0920 GMT: AFP summarises activists' claims of a move by Syrian security forces into the southern province of Daraa. "More than 30 buses carrying members of the security forces on Sunday night entered Dael, where they have since arrested 45 people," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

0850 GMT: It appears the new clashes in Sana'a may be between forces of President Saleh and those of the dissident military commander Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar. Tom Finn writes, "Just saw a soldier brought in on the back of a motorbike, blood running down his face, presumably one of Ali Mohsin's men.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Information Abdul al-Janadi has blamed yesterday's assault on "unknown assailants": "This attack was prepared so as to kill as many people as they could. ... This is a plot against all the Yemeni people."

In Geneva, Yemeni Foreign Minister Abubakr Abdullah Al-Qirbi told the UN Human Rights Council, "The government of Yemen expresses its sorrow and condemnation for all acts of violence and bloodshed as those that happened yesterday in Sanaa. The government will investigate and hold accountable all those in charge of these acts."

0840 GMT: Journalist Tom Finn writes via Twitter from Yemen, "Clashes already underway again in Sanaa. Four men just brought into the field hospital with bullet wounds....A baby was just brought into the field hospital. Shot in the head....The girl, 10 months old, has just died, she was in a car when hit in the head by a stray bullet whilst her father was shopping....Injured being ferried in to the field hospital by the dozen now, most with bullets lodged in their legs. Can hear gunfire."

Multiple reports on Twitter from Yemen also speak of gunfire, "IT'S INSANE IN SANAA RIGHT NOW."

0830 GMT: The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has recognised the National Transitional Council as Libya's representative.

Moussa Ibrahim, the spokesman for former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has claimed in a phone call on a pro-Qaddafi TV station that 17 French, British, and Qatari "mercenaries" have been captured in the fight for the Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid.

0810 GMT: Opposition activists in Bahrain have called for a "Chain of Dignity" this Wednesday for 7-10 a.m. local time, with people driving slowly on the main roads, including those in the business and financial district, of the capital Manama. Further action is proposed for Friday-Saturday, including a return to Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic centre of the protests that began in mid-February against the Bahraini monarchy. The Roundabout was cleared in March by Bahraini security forces, days after a military intervention by Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, and the "pearl" monument was subsequently destroyed.

Pro-regime media are portraying the campaign as an effort "to intimidate voters with by-elections" scheduled on Saturday. The 14 by-elections are for Parliamentary seats vacated by the opposition party Al Wefaq when it left the legislature soon after the February uprising and regime crackdown.

An activist video for the Friday-Saturday action:

In Sitra, protesters advertise the plans on the side of a police station:

0615 GMT: Talks amongst Libya's National Transitional Council to form a new executive committee, to include officials responsible for defence and interior affairs, broke down on Sunday.

Interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, had proposed a 24-member Council --- reduced from 36 in the original plan --- but his own position was reportedly a point of dispute during the talks. Jibril has been criticised by some in the nTC for failing to consult enough with groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

The NTC has drawn up a roadmap for a new constitution and elections over a 20-month period.

0610 GMT:: Students protesting against the Assad regime form the Syrian flag in a mass demonstration in Khalidiya in Homs:

0550 GMT: BBC radio this morning is featuring a correspondent's report from Libya that fighters of the National Transitional Council have advanced more than 30 kilometres (19 miles) to the eastern gate of Sirte, former leader Muammar Qaddafi's hometown and one of last strongholds. The correspondent says fighters have been buoyed by "energy and supplies".

The National Transitional Council had announced that more than 20 of its fighters were killed and 31 injured near Sirte on Sunday.

0510 GMT: We will watch Bahrain today to see if there is fallout from yesterday's clashes in Damistan, where security forces reportedly broke up the funeral procession for Jaffar Hassan Yousef, who was allegedly killed in his home by police. Videos posted on the LiveBlog yesterday showed a funeral procession which was proceeding peacefully, with the victim's children holding photographs of their father, and then --- at an undetermined point --- protesters angrily throwing objects at speeding police vehicles. Photographs show a town blanketed in tear gas and a man moving out of the way of police vehicles.

0500 GMT: A violent Sunday  throughout the region, although we mis-predicted the front line of the conflict. While demonstrations did continue through Syria, bringing the reported death of at least one child, it was Yemen that took over for bloodshed.

At least 26 demonstrators were slain and hundreds were wounded when the supporters and forces of President Saleh, who is still in Saudi Arabia recovering from injuries from a June bombing, opened fire --- reportedly with heavy guns --- on the protesters. Hospitals in the capital Sana'a were overrun with casualties; video, some of it via a LiveStream from the field hospital in a mosque near Change Square, was too gruesome to be shown on EA.

In Syria, the first day of school was greeted by a series of protests which included teenagers and children. The students stamped on posters of President Assad and tore up citizenship textbooks. There were scattered clashes, with one death and one arrest of a child claimed by activists.

A demonstration in Zabadani last night:

Harasta, northeast of Damascus:

There are also several videos of pockets of demonstrators in sections of Damascus last evening.