Friday's mass march in Bahrain
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Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Seize the Initiative
2201 GMT: Syria. AFP reports on prisoners released today by the regime:
As they emerged from police headquarters in the Syrian capital on Saturday, several of the prisoners being set free had nothing on but their underwear, many were barefoot, and others had their heads shaven.
The backs of some still bore the tell-tale marks of beatings, while others had swollen limbs. Many had been missing for weeks or even months.
Civil servant Basil, 31, told AFP he had been on his way home with his wife and son to Zamalka, a rebel-held town northeast of Damascus, when the security forces arrested him because his ID card was broken....
Before they were freed from a stench-filled room in the police headquarters -- the detainees had been unable to wash ever since they were thrown into jail -- the men being released were made to fill out and sign a form.
"I declare that I was set free from police headquarters in Damascus on September 1, that I regret my action, and that I pledge not to take part in any more unauthorised demonstrations," the declaration stated.
Across the country, a total of 267 were released on Saturday, the authorities said. Of that number, 158 were set free from the Damascus police HQ.
2156 GMT: Bahrain. An opposition sit-in in Barbar:
2149 GMT: Syria. Lebanese media have said that President Michel Suleiman has accepted the Syrian military's apology for cross-border fire that wounded a Lebanese soldier and damaged houses..
Reports said the Syrian commander in charge of the responsible units had offered the apology.
2142 GMT: Syria. Back from a day out to find the Local Coordination Committees reporting 134 people killed by security forces today, including 44 in Damascus and its suburbs, 26 in Deir Ez Zor Province, 19 in Daraa Province, 15 in Homs Province, 14 in Aleppo Province, and 10 in Idlib Province.
1313 GMT: Syria. Footage of the bombing of the main square of Kafranbel in Idlib Province:
1258 GMT: Saudi Arabia. The trial of human rights activist Mohammad Al Qahtani started today in Riyadh.
Al Qahtani, a founding member of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association (ACPRA), faces nine charges, including taking part in the establishment of an unlicensed association; seeking to undermine state policies; providing false information about Saudi Arabia to the UN human rights mechanisms; inciting international organisations against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and agitating them to criticise the civil, political, economic, social and cultural pillars of the country; and mobilising public opinion against the security institutions and senior officials by accusing them of human rights violations.
The activist faces up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
See Saudi Arabia Feature: The Professor on Trial for Speaking Out
1244 GMT: Syria. A mass protest in Al-Bab in Aleppo Province:
1229 GMT: Syria. Some of the weapons and ammunition captured by insurgents in Al Bukamal in the northeast:
1004 GMT: Syria. State media is highlighting the regime's claim that it has repelled a major insurgent attack on an air base near Aleppo. State TV showed vehicles with mounted machine guns and other equipment seized from the assault on the Rasm al-Abboud base.
The Free Syrian Army has attacked several air bases this week, destroying a number of regime helicopters.
1000 GMT: Syria. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that, whatever is thought of the Assad regime, it is "unrealistic to demand its capitulation" with the army's withdrawal from cities.
0710 GMT: Syria. C.J. Chivers, the military correspondent of the New York Times, reviews the regime's recent loss of aircraft to insurgent operations and assesses:
Between these dramatic tactical successes by the rebels and the strains put on its fleet by its own operational tempo, the Syrian Air Force is an outfit that cannot last. Like the Syrian Army, its days are numbered. That is not side-taking. It’s cold military reality.
0520 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees report that 112 people were killed by security forces on Friday, including 38 in Damascus and its suburbs.
0510 GMT: Bahrain. In the first protest allowed by authorities since June, tens of thousands of people marched outside the capital Manama along the Budaiya Highway. Demonstrators chanted slogans challenging the regime and held up pictures of political prisoners, including human rights activist Nabeel Rajab.
The rally, under the banner "Democratic Freedom", was organised by opposition societies led by Al Wefaq. It took place after Al Wefaq members reportedly met the Deputy Prime Minister.