Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in Aleppo and near Damascus

Today's funeral of cleric Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, killed in a suicide bombing on Thursday

See also Syria Audio Analysis: The Damascus Mosque Bombing and What's Next --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Lebanon (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Prime Minister Resigns --- What Next?
Friday's Syria Live Coverage: Damascus Suicide Bomb Kills 42, Including Top Cleric

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2005 GMT: Insurgent Advance. Claimed footage of the "liberated" town of Saham in Daraa Province near the Golan Heights today:

2005 GMT: Shots Fired on Israeli Troops. The Israeli military has announced that shots were fired at an Israeli patrol jeep in the Golan Heights on Saturday evening.

The vehicle was damaged but there were no injuries.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was not clear if the shots were aimed at the IDF patrol or whether they were stray bullets from clashes between insurgents and the Syrian army.

1950 GMT: Insurgent Advance. Claims are circulating that insurgents have taken a major air defence base in Daraa Province near the Jordanian border.

Fighters occupied the base, used by the 38th Division, after a 16-day siege, according to a statement posted on the websites of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.

The base, near the village of Saida, is on the international highway linking Damascus with Jordan.

Insurgents say they killed the base commander.

1850 GMT: A Big Move by Israel and Turkey. Joanna Paraszczuk writes:

Writing on his official Facebook page on Saturday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has linked his apology to Turkey, over the killing of nine Turkish citizens by Israeli commandoes in May 2010, to the Syrian crisis.

Netanyahu said he called Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in light of the worsening conflict, particularly the "great danger" that Assad's chemical weapons stores could end up in the hands of "terrorist organizations".

"The fact that the Syria crisis is deteriorating by the minute was a major consideration for me. Syria is crumbling, and its vast and advanced arsenals are beginning to fall into the hands of various elements," he wrote.

The Prime Minister added: "The situation in Syria, which includes the establishment of global Jihad on our border in the Golan Heights, gives rise to major challenges to our security. We are following what is happening there and we are prepared to respond accordingly."

Regarding the rapprochement with Turkey, Netanyahu said that it was important the two countries, both of which shared borders with Syria, could communicate.

US President Obama's visit was a "political opportunity to end the rift" he said.

Netanyahu wrote that the "changing reality around us demands that we constantly reevaluate our relationship with regional countries". Israel had made "a number of attempts" in the past three years to heal the rift with Turkey, he added.

1422 GMT: Cleric's Funeral. Thousands of people have gathered in Damascus for the funeral of the leading pro-Assad cleric Sheik Mohammad Said Ramadan al-Bouti, killed in a suicide bombing of a mosque on Thursday.

Security forces sealed off all roads leading to the 8th-century Omayyad Mosque, where the funeral service was held.

Mourners carried the coffins of al-Bouti and his grandson, also killed in the bombing, on their shoulders amid shouts of "God is Great".

State TV said President Assad was represented at the funeral by one of his Cabinet ministers.

1152 GMT: Execution of Senior Regime Official? Claims are circulating that insurgents have executed a senior intelligence officer:

FSA executed the death sentence on Muneer Shlaiby, Head of Palestine Branch in Mukhabarat captured a few months ago twitter.com/THE_47th/statu…

— The 47th (@THE_47th) March 23, 2013

0732 GMT: The US and the Insurgents. American officials use The Wall Street Journal to put out a double message this morning:

1. "The Central Intelligence Agency is expanding its role in the campaign against the Syrian regime by feeding intelligence to select rebel fighters to use against government forces."
2. "The move is part of a U.S. effort to stem the rise of Islamist extremists in Syria by aiding secular forces."

The officials are very careful in what they put out through the Journal, saying only "actionable intelligence" has been provided, rather than weapons or even training --- which has been confirmed by other sources in recent weeks. The article only goes so far to repeat some, but not nearly all, of that information from the last year:

The CIA has sent officers to Turkey to help vet rebels that receive arms shipments from Gulf allies....In Iraq, the CIA has been directed by the White House to work with elite counterterrorism units to help the Iraqis counter the flow of al Qaeda-linked fighters across the border with Syria.

Still, the message is clear: "he new CIA effort reflects a change in the administration's approach that aims to strengthen secular rebel fighters in hope of influencing which groups dominate in post-Assad Syria."

There are curiosities in the spin, especially the attempt to heighten the "Al Qa'eda" label on the Islamist Jabhat al-Nusra, designated a terrorist organisation by the US Government --- for example: "The move comes as the al Nusra Front, the main al Qaeda-linked group operating in Syria, is deepening its ties to the terrorist organization's central leadership in Pakistan."

Up to this point, American officials have portrayed Jabhat al-Nusra as emanating from Iraq and have not tied it to a "central leadership" --- translated, those who have succeeded Osama bin Laden after his death --- in Pakistan.

0720 GMT: Alawite Meeting. About 150 activists from the Alawite community, of which President Assad is a member, are meeting this weekend in Cairo to seek a democratic alternative to his rule.

The gatherings is the first by Alawites aligned with the opposition. It will draft a declaration committing to a united Syria and inviting other factions to co-operate on the prevention of sectarian conflict if Assad falls, as well as agreeing on a framework for transitional justice.

A statement by the organising committee said:

The regime, which is becoming more isolated and weak, is working on turning sectarian zealotry into bloodshed. There are anti-regime forces also pushing toward sectarian warfare.

Depriving the regime of the sectarian card is crucial for its ouster and for negotiating a Syrian national covenant on the basis of a modern statehood and equal citizenship and justice.

0630 GMT: Clashes and Casualties. In addition to sizable protests challenging the regime across the country, Friday was marked by fighting in and near Syria's largest cities.

In Aleppo, insurgents claim to have moved back into the Saleh el Dine district, where they originally launched their attacks last July, capturing a mosque and ammunition stored inside. Near Damascus, regime forces again assaulted Otaybah, the site of a claimed chemical attack earlier this week, and clashes continued in Darayya, where Assad's military has been trying to clear out the opposition for four months.

There were also reports and videos of fighting in Hama and heavy regime shelling of the Al Waer section of Homs.

The Local Coordination Committees report 100 people killed on Friday, including 28 in Damascus and its suburbs, 18 in Daraa Province, 17 in Hama Province, and 13 in Aleppo Province.

The Violations Documentation Center records 53,752 deaths since the start of the conflict in March 2011, an increase of 103 from Friday. Of the dead, 43,102 were civilians, an increase of 74 from yesterday.