Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Deadline Passes as 160 Die

2020 GMT: Back from a development break to find that today's deathtoll in Syria has reached 101, according to the LCCS. The Deir Balbaa district of Homs suffered the hardest hit, but the deaths were distributed as follows:

56 in Homs, 22 martyrs in Hama, 12 martyrs in Idlib, 6 martyrs in Daraa, 3 martyrs in Aleppo, 1 martyr in Harasta in Damascus Suburbs and 1 martyr in Deir Ezzor.

At this late hour, the LCCS also reports that the Assad military is raiding Qa'alat al Madiq, in Hama province.

So, on the day that withdrawal was supposed to start, there has been an escalation in Homs and Hama, a continuation of the campaigns against Idlib and Daraa provinces, and though Aleppo suffered far fewer action than previous days, it too is reporting casualties at the hands of the regime.

A friend of EA's quips that every time Kofi Annan speaks, Assad seems to kill a few dozen people, so for the sake of all of Syria we should hope that Annan gives up his mission of peace.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 127 Die on A Syrian Saturday

Claimed footage --- near the end of the clip --- of the Free Syrian Army blowing up a regime tank in a convoy in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: "She's Filth" --- Zainab Alkhawaja on Her Detention When She Called Out for Her Father
Bahrain Feature: Have "Hardline Sunni Groups" Overtaken the Regime?
Bahrain Feature: The Splintering of the "Regime" and "Opposition" Camps?
Bahrain Feature: A Call from Hunger Striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja to His Family
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Free Alkhawaja

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2015 GMT: Tonight activist Zainab Alkhawaja has told the story of how she was detained as she stood outside the military hospital where her father, detained hunger striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, is being held. We have posted her account in a separate feature.

1935 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claim 59 people, including six children, have died in conflict today. Twenty-four deaths were in Idlib Province, including 10 unidentified bodies in Sahl Al-Rouh village. Thirteen were in Hama, including seven members from one family, and twelve in Homs.

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Bahrain Feature: The Splintering of the "Regime" and "Opposition" Camps? (Louer)

One of Friday's mass marches for the release of detained human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja

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In the wake of increasing street violence in Bahrain—a far cry from the peaceful rallies of February and March 2011 — the Bahraini regime is attempting to restart dialogue with the opposition. Initiated by a leading representative of the ruling dynasty’s hardliners, Royal Court Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the dialogue involves pre-conditions that the opposition is unlikely to accept — most notably the acceptance of the 2002 constitution which has deprived parliament of any meaningful power — and has yet to convince the opposition of its sincerity. If started, the dialogue will have difficulty in achieving genuine rapprochement, as the political scene has undergone increasingly prevalent fragmentation. In this environment, describing the actors simply as “the regime” and “the opposition” becomes problematic.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Gathering of the "Friends of Syria"

A march in Bilad Alqadeem in Bahrain today, expressing solidarity with political leaders in prison

A protester amidst the tear gas in Salmabad in Bahrain on Saturday

See also Syria Document: Beginner's Guide to The 27 Points of the "Friends of Syria" Meeting
Syria Feature: An Insurgency Running Short of Ammunition
Bahrain Video Interview: Nabeel Rajab on BBC HARDTalk "Why This Regime and This Revolution Are Different"
Bahrain Video Special: A Tribute to Ahmed Ismail Hassan, Citizen Journalist of Salmabad
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Teenager is Shot to Death in Salmabad

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2005 GMT: CNN posts a video profile of prominent Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat --- abducted and badly beaten by gunmen in Damascus last August, he left the country but now hopes to return:

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Bahrain Interview: Talking with Members of the February 14 Coalition (Jones)

We are absolutely certain that eventually the Al-Khalifa regime will inevitably fall, that our revolution will be successful, and that we will gain our legitimate democratic rights. The revolution will result in the wellbeing of the Bahraini people, who have made a lot of sacrifices for the sake of living in freedom and with dignity, without the dictatorial Al-Khalifa regime, and to safeguard the rights of future generations.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Protest and "Reform"

In Bahrain, a protester smashes a police CCTV camera (see 0747 GMT)

See also Saudi Arabia Analysis: A Kingdom in Trouble?
Bahrain Photo Special: Friday's Mass "March 4 Democracy"
Israeli Jets Kill 14 in Gaza; Rockets Fired into Southern Israel
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 100,000 March For Reform

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2248 GMT: A clash between police and protesters in a Bahraini village tonight, leading to a blanket of tear gas:

2242 GMT: The weekly pro-reform demonstrations in Morocco continue --- a march in Casablanca today:

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Bahrain Analysis: The Anti-National Dialogue (Gengler)

The vast majority of those involved in the street movement could care less about any dialogue involving the government and [the opposition society] al-Wefaq, and indeed may simply be incited by it to act even more violently. Although one would imagine that this is already the operating assumption of all parties, the fact that the government is even willing to talk to al-Wefaq implies that both sides believe the latter can ensure the acquiescence of "the street" in the event of any agreement. Anyone taking bets on that? Because I want in.

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Bahrain Special: Who Exactly is Ill-Informed? And How Did That Happen?

Morgan RoachWho exactly is ill-informed on Bahrain? 

Morgan Roach, writing for the Heritage Foundation, says, "The Obama Administration".

Really? A mirror, rather than a stare at the White House, might be in order here. This is an article almost beyond serious consideration, so willfully does it embrace the prevailing myths of propaganda that (1) the opposition are violent, Molotov cocktail-wielding thugs and (2) disorder is wholly orchestrated by the leading opposition society Al Wefaq and radical Shia elements from outside Bahrain. 

Roach is unwilling to concede anything to the opposition. She even repeats the old chestnut --- disproved by the report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry --- that Iran is pulling the strings of dissent.

OK, it is one matter to note a very bad "analysis". For significance, what is needed is an examination of how this very bad "analysis" made it into print.

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Bahrain Analysis: Navigating a Rising Tide of Violence

Protesters chase security forces --- who had earlier dispersed a funeral, arresting youth and pushing away women --- out of AlEker village on Sunday

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Continued violations by the security apparatus suggest that the State’s talk of reform is disingenous. The Government are fully aware that continued repression will only antagonise the opposition, and contribute to the radicalisation of youth, whose adoption of violent tactics will create a subsequent desire for law and order to be restored. A similar situation was seen last year immediately after 15 March, where despite the presence of the Peninsula Shield, the Bahrain Defence Forces, and public security vigilantism took hold of Bahrain and generated considerable panic.

So not only does activist violence plays into the hands of the regime, but it also undermines attempts to garner broad-based popular support for a social movement, especially in a society where loyalties remain divided. This somewhat paradoxical situation underpins a conundrum faced by social movements around the world who are dealing with intransigent regimes. These regimes know that by using violence to radicalise opposition that might otherwise be peaceful, they are creating more violence, which simultaneously bolsters support for the regime amongst existing loyalists or moderates.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Liberation Near Damascus?

1954 GMT: Bahraini activists are calling for an interesting protest. Starting Thursday night, activists have called for the release of glowing "sky lanterns" across Bahrain for the next three night, part of a peacuful protest against the establishment of the 2012 Bahrain International Airshow.

EA's John Horne has also discovered this funny little video. An activist, dressed in typical "terrorist garb" gives instructions, in a high-pitched voice, on how to build these lanterns... and also, how to cook potatoes.

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