Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Finding the Dead in Idlib

Clashes on Saturday in AlEker in Bahrain, from police dispersing a funeral procession --- with detentions of youths and pushing of women --- to young people forcing the security forces to flee (see also 0814 GMT)

See also Syria Interview: Kurdish Leader Abdulhakim Bashar "We Demand the Right to Self-Determination"
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Exclusive in Zabadani, A Rally in the Kingdom

---

2200 GMT: The Arab League has put forth a political roadmap for Syria, with President Assad delegating power to a deputy and setting up a unity government as a prelude to early Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The League called on Assad to open discussions with other groups, including the opposition, within two weeks on the intiative. The new government would be formed within two months, electing a council that will write a Constitution and prepare for the elections.

Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, that the League would ask for the enforcement of the UN Security Council.

One observer, journalist Blake Hounshell, has noted the plan is similar to the approach taken by the Gulf Co-operation Council to resolve the Yemen crisis. The GCC put forth its call to President Saleh to transfer power in spring 2011; Saleh finally agreed in November and said today that he is leaving for the US for medical treatment.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The State of the Uprising, Continued

A large anti-regime rally in Barzeh, near the Syrian capital Damascus

See also A Song of Global Hope: We Shall Overcome أغنية سوف ننتصر
Bahrain Special: Nabeel Rajab's Speech "Our Problem is with the King"
The Real Net Effect: How States Fail at the Manipulation of Social Media
Monday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Meaningless Amnesty, Cosmetic Speech?

---

2053 GMT: After the violence and deaths in Homs today, one of a series of demonstrations tonight in nearby areas, in this case, Deir Ba'alba:

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Calling for International Intervention?

Scene of the explosion in Midan in the Syrian capital Damascus today

See also Syria Video Special: Friday's Mass Protests Across the Country - Set1 and Set 2

Bahrain Analysis: Will 2012 Be Like 2011?
Syria and Bahrain Analysis: Evaluating The Protests and the Crackdowns --- Will New History Be Made?
Thursday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Message to President Obama

---

2310 GMT: Nabeel Rajab is home. He tweets of his experience:

It was minimum cost for freedom and justice - 9umoood [Resistance!]

Disturbingly, Nabeel also confirms earlier reports that his "family and house were attacked by teargas" whilst he was in hospital.

2240 GMT: Nabeel Rajab is out of hospital. Zainab Alkhawaja has uploaded this picture showing him as he walks out of Salmaniya hospital:

She quotes Nabeel as saying: ""The most important thing, is we don't give up. That's why next week we'll do the same as 2day"

Said Yousif Almuhafda, who was also injured after security forces attacked, came to visit Nabeel in the hospital. Zainab reports that he was threatened by police when he got there. Zainab later uploaded this photo of the two human rights campaigners which she captioned: "Two heroes after a rough day".

2105 GMT: This video shows Nabeel Rajab speaking to a police officer. As the officer withdraws, the crowd begins to chant, and then the video decays into gunfire and chaos:

Click to read more ...

Happy New Year: 10 Predictions for 2012 --- From US Election to Syria to No War With Iran to EA WorldView

A Reliable Prediction? Right to Left: Tunisia's Ben Ali, Egypt's Mubarak, Libya's Qaddafi, Yemen's Saleh, Syria's Assad, Iran's Khamenei

See also A Resolution for a 2012 WorldView: A Global Community Built On Communication, Not Conflict
Happy New Year: Rap News Presents #Occupy2012

---

President Obama will call on the international community to intervene in Syria. He may not be the loudest public voice, but he and his team will be working the diplomatic backchannels in Europe and the Middle East hard. He wants to avoid war in Iran, but not so secretly, he is rooting for the domino theory to hold with the fall of the regime in Tehran. He will sell more arms to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to pacify their unease with his policies, while preparing a backup plan if there is no movement in the Islamic Republic.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain, Egypt (& Beyond) LiveBlog: Protest Resurgent

2240 GMT: Video surfaces from Bahrain of what appears to show riot police walking down a street and throwing a molotov cocktail, or similar device, towards a building, possibly in a residential area. A fire ensues.

2150 GMT: This picture from Abusaiba village and the following video from Jid Hafs reveal the scale of tear being used against domestic populations at night:

2130 GMT: Josh Sharyar has spoken to people in Bahrain who can barely breathe inside their own homes. One contact's father won't stop coughing, and his son reports that he believes he might die tonight.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Egypt, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Beyond a "Return" to Protest

Egyptian military drag, and disrobe a female protester

See also Bahrain Video Special: The Police Attack Protesters at Budaiya
Friday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Beat Goes On --- Anticipating Friday's Protests

---

2100 GMT: One Egyptian soldier beats a protester while another soldier wields a handgun:

2005 GMT: An EA source is reporting another death from the activities of the security forces in Bahrain. Abdali Al Mawaly, a 58-year-old man, suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation in Mugsha village on Friday and died this evening. People are now gathered around his house.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Catchphrase of "Many Dead"

2329 GMT: Two important visual pieces of evidence from Bahrain. The first, too graphic to post here, is a picture of the body of young Ali Al Qassab, who was reportedly killed earlier when he was run over. Activists claim he was run over by a police jeep, the government tells a different story.

The second piece of evidence is a video, reportedly taken today, that claims to show a police jeep accelerating towards a group of protesters who are near the side of the road. We've seen many videos like these in the past, and have already posted another video that shows a near-miss between a police vehicle and a pedestrian (see video at 1918):

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Armed Insurgency Builds

Footage of security forces suddenly firing --- those posting the clip claim it was a rocket-propelled grenade --- at a rally in Homs Province in Syria last night

See also Syria 1st-Hand: Observations from Damascus "The Subtle Signs of Turmoil"
Egypt Feature: The Political Battle Beyond Cairo
Tuesday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Declaring Reform

---

2100 GMT: Bikyamasr has more details on the food poisoning suffered by protesters at #OccupyCabinet --- the group that is gathered outside the cabinet building to protest against the Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. According to their reporters, two of whom were victims as well, the perpetrator is being singled out a woman who showed up before the cases broke out and offered protesters hawawshi, a popular Egyptian meat dish. 

Hundreds started vomitting and dozens have been hospitalized. However, Bakyamasr denies that anyone has died so far. Full report here. 

1930 GMT: Reuters has raised the number of people killed in today's violence across Syria to 30. Their report on Syria also covers the army's assault on the city of Hama to break a 3-day long strike called "The Strike of Dignity". Soldiers fired machineguns and burnts shops that had been closed down in solidarity with the strike. At least 10 people were killed as a result of the assault. 

Click to read more ...

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Sorting Out "Shameless Acts of Terror"

Syrian activist/blogger Razan Ghazzawi, Egyptian activist/blogger Alaa Abd-El Fattah, and Bahraini activist/blogger Ali Abdulemam, photographed in Budapest in 2008 --- Ghazzawi was detained this weekend, Abd-El Fattah is in prison, and Abdulemam is in hiding from a 15-year sentence

See also Saudi Arabia Feature: 16 Reformists Given Long Prison Sentences
Syria Feature: The Arrest of Activist Razan Ghazzawi
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Actress's Message

---

2214 GMT: As we close the LiveBlog, we turn to Yemen. Reuters confirms the news that at least 1 civilian was killed by soldiers today in Taiz:

Tanks, armored vehicles and opposition fighters left some areas of Taiz, a hub of 10 months of unrest against Saleh's 33-year rule, but gunmen and snipers remained and had fired on demonstrators, witnesses said.

"Both sides violated the ceasefire agreement. We were marching peacefully and they (Saleh's forces) shot at us yet again," medical student Hamoud al-Aklamy told Reuters.

Activists, right now, are reporting loud explosions in various neighborhoods of the capital city, Sana'a. Every time it appears as though things in Yemen are calming down, something happens to remind us that in Yemen, just like in many places in the region, Arab Spring is far from over, despite the fact that it is now about to enter its second year.

2205 GMT: Protesters are still conducting a sit-in protest in Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital Cairo, demanding that the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces release all political prisoners. The demonstrators have announced that they will allow traffic to flow again in the square, while continuing the sit-in.

Click to read more ...

Syria Opinion: Why There Should --- And Will --- Be a No-Fly Zone

The moral reasons for a no-fly zone have only grown as the humanitarian crisis has worsened. The geopolitical incentives are stronger than ever. Now the logistical and practical possibilities are emerging.

There will be a no-fly zone, with or without US participation. Turkey wants it, France is chomping at the bit for it, and at the end of the day the rest of the world will realize that there is at least one more domino that needs to fall.

Click to read more ...