Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Is Assad's Military Collapsing?

2107 GMT: Bahrain Government authorities claim they have arrested a "domestic terror cell" responsible for planting "fake bombs in several crowded areas throughout Bahrain". They don't specify what a "fake bomb" actually is, but do say that they found one when they raided the house of one of the suspects.

Yesterday, newly appointed Bahrain Government Spokesperson Sameera Rajab told pro-regime newspaper Gulf Daily News that reports of an imminent terrorist attack were baseless and being spread "to create panic and chaos".

2103 GMT: Syria. For over an hour we've been looking at, analyzing, and searching for additional videos after several different sources posted images from the air-defense base that was captured by the FSA yesterday southwest of Damascus, near Hajar al Aswad and Buwaydah (map, see yesterday's entries).

#Syria #Damascus Rebels seized air-defence in southern suburbs youtube.com/watch?v=WIddJK… youtube.com/watch?v=csz2xj…

— Mark (@markito0171) November 20, 2012

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Syria Opinion: The Vatican's Dangerous Game On "Persecution" Plays Into Assad's Hands

UPDATE: Two news items signal that the Vatican has reversed course on this narrative, even after pushing the anti-opposition rhetoric harder in the last few days.

The first, and likely most important, news is that the Vatican's ambassador to Syria, Archbishop Nuncio Mario Zenari, has denied that Christians are being targeted by Sunnis. Archibishop Zenari said that for all people, "the descent into hell has started," and even cited UN reports of children being used as human shields.

Archbishop Zenari also signaled that the Church may be in a position to help negotiate:

"It is the Christians' mission to play the role of a link at all levels," he said.

"They're active in very painful situations, such as in Homs where we have priests, nuns and monks ... who are setting an example and risk their lives."

Concerning the issue raised in my original article (below), the Archbishop dismissed claims that Sunnis in the opposition were targeting Christians.

So far, I would say that Christians share the same sad fate as all Syrians (...) I would not say that they are the object of particular discriminations, less so persecutions," said Zenari.

The lot of Christians in Syria today does not compare to that in other countries in the region, he said. "Sometimes it is compared to Iraq, but you cannot compare this."

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