Syria, Lebanon (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Will a Beirut Bomb Widen the War?

Activists and crew on the Estelle, the Gaza-bound ship of the Freedom Flotilla, which was boarded this morning by Israeli forces

See also Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 44 Dead in Airstrike on Ma'arat al-Numan
Israel-Palestine Live Blog (19 October): A Centre-Left Alternative to Netanyahu?

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1840 GMT: Egypt. France 24 TV says its correspondent in Cairo, Sonia Dridi, was "savagely attacked" near Tahrir Square on Friday night, shortly after a live news report.

The channel said Dridi was rescued by a colleague and other witnesses. The reporter and crew were safe "but extremely shocked".

France 24 said it would file a suit against unspecified assailants.

1720 GMT: Syria. US officials have put out the message, via The Washington Post, that they are stepping up intelligence co-operation and military consultations with Turkey over the Syrian conflict.

In particular, the officials confirmed that Washington was the source of intelligence for Ankara's grounding of a Syrian passenger jet, travelling from Moscow to Damascus, earlier this month. Turkish officials claimed the aircraft was carrying radar and electrical parts for Syria’s Russian-made anti-aircraft systems.

1640 GMT: Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Yemen's deal for a transfer of power, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepping down in favour of Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, is no longer a suitable model for a solution in Syria.

Earlier this month, Turkey was reportedly supporting a transition with President Assad departing and Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa heading the interim administration.

"The Yemen solution was suitable for Syria nine months ago," Davutoglu told a news conference in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. "But now, because every country has its own special circumstances and due to the latest developments on the Syrian arena which saw the use of artillery and the air force in bombarding Syrian cities, this has narrowed the room for implementing such solutions."

1620 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report 80 people killed by security forces today, including 39 martyrs in Damascus and its suburbs.

1610 GMT: Yemen. Human Rights Watch claims that security forces are forcibly removing wounded alleged insurgents from hospitals, exchanging fire with gunmen seeking to block the arrests, and beating medical staff.

HRW says that one hospital in the south has suspended operations as a result.

The security forces claim those whom they have removed are suspects in serious crimes, including attacks against the military and police. Sources say most of the wounded patients are linked to Herak (Southern Movement), a coalition of groups seeking greater autonomy or independence for former South Yemen.

1600 GMT: Lebanon. On a day of national mourning after Friday's car bombing in Beirut, protesters have been gathering in Martyrs Square in the centre of the capital.

Others have blocked roads in Beirut and major cities. Some activists have set up tents outside the Parliament Building to call for the toppling of the Government, after Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he would remain in office at the request of President Michel Suleiman.

1210 GMT: Lebanon. Speaking on national television in the wake of Friday's Beirut bomb, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for a "national unity" Government. He said he had considered resigning, but President Michel Suleiman had asked him to wait to prevent the country from entering a political vacuum.

Mikati called on the Ministry of Communications to hand over all data since 19 September to assist in the investigation of Friday's bombing, which killed eight people, including top security official Wissam al-Hassan.

The Prime Minister, echoing the prevailing analysis, linked al-Hassan's assassination to the official's role in the arrest of Michel Samaha, a Lebanese politician close to Syrian President Assad, over smuggling of explosives into Syria.

1140 GMT: Libya. Witnesses in Libya and US officials have described the 11 September attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, which killed the US Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, as an opportunistic attack rather than a long-planned operation.

The US sources said intelligence agencies have found no evidence that the assault was ordered by Al Qaeda. It was "carried out following a minimum amount of planning," said an American intelligence official. "The attackers exhibited a high degree of disorganization. Some joined the attack in progress, some did not have weapons, and others just seemed interested in looting."

Another US official said, "There isn't any intelligence that the attackers pre-planned their assault days or weeks in advance." Instead, most of the evidence so far suggests that "the attackers launched their assault opportunistically after they learned about the violence at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo" earlier in the day.

1130 GMT: Bahrain. Activists and opposition parties claim that police are continuing to besiege the village of Al-Eker, preventing any entry or exit from the village and conducting raids of houses. The opposition society Al Wefaq put out the message:

SOS to international community :fierce crackdownagainst Al-Eker ppl being deprived from getting their basic needs #Bahrain#UN #SOS #hrw

— AlwefaqEN (@AlWefaqEN) October 20, 2012

The Ministry of Interior claimed that one police officer was killed and one wounded in Al-Eker on Thursday night when they were hit by a Molotov cocktail thrown by youths, amid a protest in the village against the regime's denial of rights.

1100 GMT: Israel and Palestine. Catherine Ashton, the European Union's representative for foreign affairs, has criticised the Israeli Cabinet's decision to expand a settlement in East Jerusalem.

The Cabinet has approved the expansion of Gilo with an additional 767 housing units, but Ashton said the expansion of Gilo and nearby Har Homa continue the process of separating Palestinian East Jerusalem from the rest of Palestine's West Bank:

Settlements are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible. The EU has repeatedly urged the Government of Israel to immediately end all settlement activities in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, in line with its obligations under the road map.

1022 GMT: Syria. The United Nations-Arab Leaague envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, is in talks with Syrian officials, including Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, as he hopes for acceptance of a cease-fire for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

State media is highlighting Brahimi's statement on his arrival in Damascus on Friday, "We will discuss the situation in Syria with the Syrian government, political parties, and the civil society. We will discuss the importance of decreasing violence and the possibility of ending it on the occasion of Eid al-Adha."

1005 GMT: Israel and Palestine. The Israeli Defense Force has sent the message via Twitter, "Estelle was boarded peacefully and without violence. Ship now on its way to Ashdod Port."

Activists claim the ship was intercepted in international waters.

0957 GMT: Israel and Palestine. A spokesman for the Freedom Flotilla has said the Estelle, trying to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and bring in humanitarian goods, has "come under attack".

"The Estelle is now under attack --- I have just had a message from them by phone," Victoria Strand, a Stockholm-based spokeswoman for the Ship to Gaza Sweden campaign said.

Another spokesman said, "Five or six military vessels surrounded the Estelle. Soldiers wearing masks are now trying to board the ship."

The Israeli military confirmed that navy vessels were in the vicinity of the Estelle but denied the ship had been attacked or boarded. "The Israeli navy has attempted to make initial contact with them, but they have not answered and nothing further has happened at this stage," a spokeswoman said.

0652 GMT: Israel and Palestine. Israeli activist Yonatan Shapira explains why he is a crew member of the Estelle, one of the ships in the latest Freedom Flotilla trying to break an Israeli blockade and get goods to Gaza --- Israel has warned that it will block the Flotilla, as it has previous convoys:

0645 GMT: Egypt. Liberal and secular groups again gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday, claiming that a 100-member drafting assembly --- dominated by Islamist representatives --- does not have the legitimacy to write the Constitution.

A Cairo court is expected to rule on the challenge on Tuesday.

Liberal groups assert that the assembly is pushing Constitutional articles that would curb the rights of women and minorities.

0535 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report widespread protests and deaths across the country on Friday.

Accoriding to the activists, there were 437 rallies challenging the regime, with 128 in Hama Province and 102 in Idlib Province, where the opposition controls much of the territory. The LCC claimed 245 people were killed by security forces, including 75 bodies found in a cemetery in Deir Ez Zor Province.

0515 GMT: Lebanon and Syria. Friday's bomb in east Beirut, which killed eight people and injured 96, leads to Saturday's questions.

Wissam al-Hassan, a prominent Lebanese security official close to the "March 14" group of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, appeared to the target of the blast in a crowded area of Ashrafieh. He had been instrumental in the arrest of Michel Samaha, a Lebanese politician close to Syrian President Assad. Samaha, was detained on charges of smuggling explosives into Lebanon.

Al-Hassan was also involved in the pursuit of those responsible for attacks and assassinations between 2005 and 2008, including that of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

After the bomb, clashes resurfaced in the northern city of Tripoli between the rival districts of Jabal Mohsen, where residents are largely supportive of Assad, and Bab al-Tabbaneh,  where most back the Syrian opposition. Fighting in recent months in the area has killed people on both sides, as well as members of the Lebanese military when it intervened to stop the conflict.

Saad Hariri, a former Prime Minister, and Walid Jumblatt, a leading politician, both blamed Assad for the killing of Hassan, while Hezbollah and the Syrian regime denied "a cowardly terrorist attack" and expressed sorrow.