Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Declaring Reform

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Opposition's Quest for Arms and Ammunition
Bahrain 1st-Hand: "The World Looks Up to You" --- Attending the Mass Rally on Human Rights
Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Bring Your Tanks Here"

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Bahrain's King Hamad & British PM David Cameron2105 GMT: A tale of two contrasting interviews and Bahrain....

Sheikh Ali Salman, the head of the opposition group Al Wefaq, tells The Financial Times:

The US and UK should call for an elected, representative government, and a timetable and a road map to achieve that. If this does not happen then they should say that this regime has lost legitimacy. This is what is suitable if they want to talk about democracy and not show double standards in the Arab spring.

Salman welcomed some of the regime's steps after the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report, notably allowing the Red Cross into prisons, but he was sceptical about others:

We don’t see an intention really to implement the report, they are just trying to provide a decorative picture. No one who reads the human rights report would think that the same government accused of the abuses could be allowed to implement the recommendations.

Salman set the condition of the end of the Prime Ministerial reign of more than 40 years of Sheikh Khalifa al-Khalifa --- if he did not resign, "the king should remove him, that is a normal, logical demand". He continued, “They don’t look at people as citizens who have rights – so long as this mentality is there, any changes will be limited."

Meanwhile, Con Coughlin of The Daily Telegraph uses an encounter with King Hamad to offer the effusive praise of "a fascinating insight into how the monarchies are managing to survive these challenging times....King Hamad has proved himself to be extremely adroit in dealing with the protesters' demands."

In the interview, the King declared:

What [has] happened was the result of individual acts, not government policy. It is not the policy of the Ministry of Interior to go and kill people on the roads. The policemen and soldiers involved in the killings did not take notice of the discipline side of matters.

If people have done something wrong then they should be held accountable. We have removed people from positions of authority so that this does not happen again.

The King continued, "I care about Bahrain. Bahrain is very dear to me. I will not allow people to play around with our laws."

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Bring Your Tanks Here"

A crowd in Al Bab chants, in sympathy with the besieged residents of Syria's third-largest city, "We are a Part of Homs, Bring Your Tanks Here"

See also, Syria 1st-Hand Video: Activist Rami al-Jarrah (Alexander Page) Tells His Story

Syria Video Feature: Challenging Assad...With Puppets (Marrouch)

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2205 GMT: While the LCCS reports that 21 civilians have been killed by Syrian security forces, the UN Human Rights chief, Navi Pillay, was reporting that the death toll has likely eclipsed 5000 since the start of the conflict.

More than 14,000 people are estimated to have been detained and 12,400 have fled into neighboring countries, Pillay was to say, according to details of her briefing to the Security Council obtained by AFP.

Today's deaths were reported in Homs, Hama, the Damascus suburbs of Douma and Kanaker, and Idlib. Beyond this, we've seen evidence of intense fighting near Daraa, and more evidence of a military assault against Dael and the city of Daraa.

But the protests have also continued. While there are reports of protests in many cities that we've come to expect, there are also unconfirmed reports of protests in Aleppo.

Just another night in Syria.

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Bahrain Opinion: The US and "The Wrong Side of History"

There used to be a saying, "History is written by the victors." That does not hold anymore. Though Bahrain's protest movement may have been suppressed, history is not going to remember this as the a valiant defence by Bahrain's regime against a violent minority, aided by malevolent foreign powers. This will be remembered as an apartheid regime crushing a democracy movement, assisted by its biggest foreign ally still portraying itself as a beacon of liberty and justice.

The White House appears unaware of this re-writing of history. That failure will not just land it on the wrong side of history. It will also put it, on a daily side, on the wrong side of those who observe and wonder for what "America" really stands. 

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Syria, Bahrain, Egypt (& Beyond) LiveBlog: Back to Square One?

Saturday's tear gas attack by security forces on protesters after a funeral in A'ali in Bahrain

See also Egypt Q&A: Why Is There A "Revolution Reignited"?
Bahrain 1st-Hand: How Activist Zainab Alkhawaja Defied the Police...And Escaped Arrest
Saturday's Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protest Creep

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2024 GMT: Yemen's Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has named opposition leader Mohammed Basindwa as interim Prime Minister, according to State media.

Basindwa, Foreign Minister from 1993 to 1994, will form a new government under the deal signed in Saudi Arabia last Wednesday by President Saleh, who returned to Yemen last night.

On Saturday, Hadi called Presidential elections for 21 February.

2019 GMT: Claimed footage of a Saudi armoured vehicle trying to run over protesters in Qatif in Eastern Province --- demonstrations by the Shi'a population escalated this week, as four people were killed by security forces:

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Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Report of the Commission of Inquiry

Security forces use tear gas in Bahrain on protesters and residents after a man died in his car, allegedly following an incident with a police jeep

See also Bahrain Special: The Commission of Inquiry's Report...& 14 Key Points About It
Egypt Analysis: So What Happens Now?
Egypt LiveBlog: Déjà Vu All Over Again
Tuesday's Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil and Confusion

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2150 GMT: The week of Thanksgiving 2011 will be remembered for what happened in the Middle East. Once again, Egypt was so eventful that it merited its own liveblog. Two other major developments will make the history books. In Yemen, President Saleh signed the Gulf Cooperation Council deal, effectively agreeing to trade his rule for immunity. In Bahrain, the independent report on human rights, and the regime's reaction to it, will likely set the stage for the next phase of unrest there.

With these two stories, and Egypt's news, Syria was doomed to the bottom of the priority list today. And yet, we saw some massively important developments, an unseen amount of protest in Damascus and Aleppo, and signs that Europe may be contemplating an intervention in the crisis.

There are many parallels between Yemen and Egypt, as both may have removed a dictator but neither has seen lasting change. In Bahrain, the opposition continues to struggle to be heard. But the developments in Syria may be the most important in the long run. With the news of protests reaching the reaching the two largest cities, the opposition appears stronger than it has ever been, and the Assad regime appears weaker. As Yemen and Egypt struggle to chart their next chapter, and the Bahraini opposition struggles to establish itself against a powerful regime, it appears that Syria could be the next domino to fall, perhaps the largest and most important domino yet.

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Bahrain: Inside an Opposition Gathering on the "Path to Democracy"

Friday's two-hour gathering, organised by four main political societies, in the Bahraini village of Ma'ameer, "The path for democracy"

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An EA source inside Bahrain summarises Friday's two-hour rally, organised by four main political societies, in Ma'ameer:

The event started at 4:00 pm with reading some of the Qur'an, after which two speeches where given, the first by Waad political society member, the lawyer Mr. Isa Ebrahim, and the second by Al Wefaq member and former member of Parliament, A. Aljalil Khalil.

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Bahrain: Opposition Gathering on the "Path to Democracy"

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Bahrain 1st-Hand: "48 Hours in Sanabis" (Al Jazeera English)

A message to Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa

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We left the house into the streets. Some stone-carrying shabab were starting to return to the main crossings in central Sanabis, standing over broken glass and spent tear gas cartridges --- all clearly marked "made in USA" --- waiting for the police to return.
 
We passed through the narrow alleyways, some barely wide enough for a car to pass through. Some parts were well lit with the bright orange glow of the street lights, others pitch black. Some areas were tight giving a sense of protection, while others were more open, leaving us completely exposed for a number of seconds when anything could happen. We could only hope as we approached the next street corner that there wouldn't be any police waiting around it, while we kept looking backwards to make sure there were none there either. Too fast and we would come upon them with no place to run, too slow and we'd get caught from behind.

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Yemen, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Who's in Charge Here?

See also US and the World (Video and Transcript): President Obama to UN General Assembly "Peace is Hard"
Yemen Analysis: The Latest Deaths and the Mistakes of US Policy
Wednesday's Syria, Yemen, Bahrain (and Beyond): A "Win-Win" Protest?

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2125 GMT: Another photo of the mass opposition rally in the Bahraini capital Manama today:

2105 GMT: Claimed footage of men trying to rescue a shot companion from a street in Talbiseh in Homs Province in Syria:

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Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching Homs

The clashes between President Saleh's forces and protesters in Yemen's capital Sana'a today --- 25+ protesters were killed and 100s injured

See also Tunisia Feature: Leading the Way on Women's Rights?
Israel-Palestine Feature: Trip by US Envoys Backfires, Palestinians Proceed to UN with Statehood Bid
Syria Video Feature: Tonight's Protests --- Executing Assad, Burning Russian Flag, and Calling for Protection
Bahrain Propaganda 101: How a US PR Firm Puts "News" in American Newspapers
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Once Again They Rallied

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2100 GMT: Raw footage from Reuters of the events in Sana'a in Yemen today, with security forces killing dozens of protesters:

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