Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Attack in the North

Syrian demonstrators in Aleppo burn a picture of President Assad on Friday

See also Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Feuding About a Plane --- Meanwhile, 200+ Die

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2027 GMT: Palestine. Doctors have said that at least one person has been killed and three others, including a child, have been wounded in two Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

The Israeli military said two men, one killed and one critically wounded, were "terror operatives of the Hashora Council of the Mujahideen, a Gaza-based Global Jihad affiliate".

2022 GMT: Syria. Claimed footage has been posted of the body of the pilot of the regime jet downed near Aleppo (Warning: Very Graphic).

1740 GMT: Syria. Insurgents are claiming that they have downed a regime jet near Aleppo --- claimed footage of the aftermath, with shots of the wreckage:

1710 GMT: Egypt. A spokesman has announced that Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud, after a meeting with President Morsi, will remain in his position.

Morsi tried to remove Mahmoud by offering him an ambassadorial position after the Cairo Criminal Court acquitted all defendants accused in the "Battle of the Camel Attack" on protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the uprising against the Mubarak regime.

Egyptian judges condemned Morsi's attempt to remove the Prosecutor General.

1330 GMT: Syria. An AFP journalist reports that insurgents have tried to block regime reinforcements moving towards Ma'aret al-Numan, seized by the opposition on Tuesday.

The Syrian military reportedly used warplanes to bombard the town, killing at least two civilians. Meanwhile, the convoy of about 40 military vehicles --- including 10 tanks, four-wheel-drive vehicles with mounted machineguns and buses full of troops --- was waiting about 10 kilometres (six miles) to the south.

1130 GMT: Libya. In Benghazi in the east, a police car has exploded during a failed assassination attempt. The home-made bomb was intended for Police Colonel Mohammed Ben Haleem.

There were no casualties from the blast, according to Libyan police officials.

1121 GMT: Syria. The Syrian Foreign Ministry has welcomed a statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov "on the necessity to create a mechanism of direct dialogue on security issues between Syria and Turkey".

The Ministry said Syrian authorities have spoken with the Russian Ambassador in Damascus about “the possibility of setting up a joint Syrian-Turkish committee on monitoring security along the mutual border".

1105 GMT: Israel and Syria. The New York Times follows up Friday's story of secret US-brokered talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Syrian officials over a possible peace treaty based on a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Michael Herzog, a former chief of staff to Israel’s Minister of Defense, confirmed the discussions, mediated by US officials Frederick Hoff and Dennis Ross. Herzog said the process was cut short by the uprisings across North Africa and the Middle East in early 2011 that spread to Syria: “Nothing was agreed between the parties. It was a work in progress.”

Herzog said, “The idea was to see if we could drive a wedge in the radical axis of Iran-Syria-Hezbollah”, with an agreement with Damascus followed by talks with Lebanon. However, Assad would not give clear signals about his willingness to split with Tehran, Herzog said, and Netanyahu proceeded with caution.

On Friday, the Israeli Prime Minister's office denied any agreement on a withdrawal from the Golan Heights, seized by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

1015 GMT: Bahrain. Claimed footage of police firing shotguns at protesters in Abu Saiba on Friday night:

An image from Friday's arrest of demonstrators in Manama:

0545 GMT: Syria. The pattern of the last few days was sustained on Friday. Insurgent forces, indirectly backed in some cases by Turkish firepower, continued their attacks in the north. There were more reports of assaults on military bases, and claims that more than 130 regime troops had been slain in the last three days while hundreds had been captured. The Syrian military tried to hit back with an attack on Ma'arat al-Numan, taken by insurgents on Tuesday, but the opposition has hindered regime movements with their seizure of a stretch of highway near the town, cutting the route between Damascus and Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees said 113 people, including 10 Free Syrian Army members, were killed by security forces on Friday, including 40 in Aleppo Province, 25 in Damascus and its suburbs, 18 in Idlib Province, and 13 in Daraa Province.