Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Pressure Outside, More Pressure Within

In a separate entry, we had posted 2 exclusive videos. One video showed what may be the remains of the now infamous bodies that were dumped in a Hama river.

But the video at the top of the entry shows something very interesting, soldiers beating protesters while they are detained in a bus, forcing them to shout pro-Assad chants. Al Jazeera now has an interesting piece of analysis, that the soldiers in the video have beards, and beards are not allowed in the regular army.

1814 GMT: The LCCS has released a statement entitled "Indications of Victory:"

This Friday was one of the most important during the course of the protest movement in Syria. For weeks, the security forces and the military, through their operations, have prevented mass demonstrations. However, in a remarkable step and due to increasing international support for the protest movement and the subsequent morale boost, many protesters have managed to overcome the security and military barriers and begin taking the steps necessary to de-legitimize the government. Despite the Syrian president’s promises to withdraw his troops and end military operations across the country, armored vehicles and tanks have continued to be stationed in city centers. In fact, security backups have been called to quell protests such as the one that occurred in Hirak and Ankhal in the Daraa Governorate, where they have resumed gunfire using both light and heavy machine guns. Today alone, security forces killed at least 22 protesters, including children who were not part of the demonstrations.

In the besieged city of Homs, all neighborhoods, including Khaldieh, Bab Sbaa, and Baba Amr demonstrated in thousands, despite gunfire yesterday and today, and despite the violent military operations in the city for the past week, which take lives on a daily basis. Deir Ezzor is in the same condition, but demonstrations approached large numbers before the military invasion.

The statement also said that there were renewed protests in the embattled regions of Idlib, its suburbs, and Hama, where security once again fired on demonstrators. In Lattakia and in Jableh, the most recent scenes of the military crackdown, protesters also began retaking the streets.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) Liveblog: No Stalemate?

1936 GMT: Avaaz is reporting 9 people killed in Lattakia today. Al Jazeera is reporting at least 2 deaths in the Asheera neighbourhood in Homs. "Heavy gunfire has been heard from inside the military academy in Al Wa'ar in the same city." This is a development that we will watch carefully. With the Turkish foreign minister stating that he does not want to see foreign intervention in the conflict, and with seemingly no will to take up arms against Bashar, the loyalty of the military will remain key in Assad's ability to hold power.

1903 GMT: Abu Kamal protests after Taraweeh prayers. Note the sign, "Down with Iran and Bashar":

Bousr Al Harer, Daraa:

1835 GMT: A demonstration forming earlier today in Hama, Syria:

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Syria, Libya, (and Beyond) Liveblog: 1 if by Land, 2 if by Sea

2104 GMT: James Miller is wrapping up the liveblog (but only because he has to start it again in 5-8 hours).

Our closing thought, the AP has compiled some video of Lattakia, taken today:

2038 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria are reporting protests, heavy security, and the use of live ammunition against crowds in Homs, Deir Ez Zor, Aleppo, and the Qadam district of Damascus. Large protests are reported, once again, in almost every corner of Syria.

2025 GMT: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu expressed his frustration at the situatio today in Syria:

“We are asking Assad to actualize the steps we agreed on in our talks with him,” he went on to say, referring to his meeting with Assad last Tuesday. “He had taken some positive steps in the first few days. Such as the withdrawal of tanks from Hama and providing the transportation of our press members to Hama, but operations have continued in various cities since Friday. It is not possible to condone these operations, which have claimed the lives of many civilians,” he said.

“We have requested an immediate halt of these operations, and we will continue to do so. We are calling on the Syrian administration to be more sensitive to its own people and not to further increase the tension. The necessary steps must be taken immediately. The operations causing civilian losses should be stopped, particularly in this holy month of Ramadan. We will keep on with our contacts in the coming days. The Syrian issue is a matter we have been following very closely; it is a matter we are directly concerned with in every aspect.”

Davutoglu went on to deliver his strongest words yet to Syria's Bahsar al Assad:

“This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: Our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally,” Mr. Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. “If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken,” he said, without saying what that action might include.

Jordan also condemned the actions in Syria:

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Iran Video Special: Europe & US Need Freedom Most of All

In an interview with RT, Ahmadinejad says that nukes are the weapons from yesterday, Iran isn't meddling in the affairs of others, "justice and dignity are among the requirements of all human beings," and the US and Europe need freedom more than Iran, because Iran already has so much. But hey, even Ahmadinejad admits, Iran isn't perfect.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) Liveblog: The Fight for Zawiya

1921 GMT: Lattakia is under attack, but both pro and anti-Assad protests took place in Damascus today. What are the pro-Assad protests like? One activist, Omar S. Dahi, visited a pro-Assad protest in the last month, out of curiosity, and this is what he found there:

"As I approached the main square, which had several hundred people in white shirts all carrying or wearing Syrian flags, with loud pro-Bashar music blaring from loudspeakers, I finally realized what fascism really looks like.

"The belief or claim by some opposition members outside the country that pro-regime demonstrations are entirely forced is not accurate. Many state (and private sector) employees are made to go, but many show up on their own and do not fit neatly into categories such as ‘regime beneficiary’ which some members of the opposition like to throw around.

"These were people, on their own will, coming to support a regime’s brutal crackdown by security forces that they themselves have long dreaded and despised. I saw and spoke with several people in attendance, all of whom insisted the events were necessary to ‘confront the conspiracy,’ to ‘preserve national unity’, and to ‘oppose extremists.’"

1906 GMT: We've uploaded a new video on our separate entry, showing security surrounding the Almhati mosque in Lattakia, preventing people from entering for Taraweeh prayers.

The LCCS now says 25 people were killed today in Lattakia, including 3 children.

1749 GMT: Reuters is now reporting that the Libyan opposition forces may have occupied the town of Surman, to the west of the embattled Zawiya. This is unconfirmed, but would potentially give the Libyan opposition forces the ability to flank Gaddafi's forces and cut off supply lines from Tunisia:

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: After Another Deathful Friday

1941 GMT: The Associated Press is reporting that the opposition fighters in Libya have made significant gains in the city of Az-Zawiya, but heavy fighting continues in the area:

A rebel force of about 200 fighters advancing from the south reached a bridge on Az-Zawiyah's southwestern outskirts, and some rebels pushed farther into the city's central main square.

They tore down the green flag of Gaddafi's regime from a mosque minaret and put up two rebel flags. An Associated Press reporter traveling with the rebels saw hundreds of residents rush into the streets, greeting the fighters with chants of "God is great."

Gaddafi's forces then counterattacked, unleashing rounds of heavy shelling and gunfire could be heard as rebels and government troops battled.

Regime snipers were firing down from rooftops on the rebels, said one resident, Abdel-Basset Abu Riyak, who joined to fight alongside the rebels when they entered the city. He said Gaddafi's forces were holed up in several pockets in the city and that there were reports of reinforcements coming from Tripoli, though there was no sign of them yet.

Speaking to the AP by telephone, Abu Riyak said residents were now joining up with the rebels' assault, saying, "95 percent of Az-Zawiyah's people are with the revolution."

"There is shooting from all sides," said another rebel, 23-year-old Ibrahim Akram. "The people joined us. Fierce clashes are still ongoing, but thank God our numbers are great." - Associated Press

1938 GMT: James Miller takes the blog for a few updates...

The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have stated that 7 people have been killed today in Syria, "4 in Homs, 1 in Hama, 1 in Daraya and 1 in Latakia. Earlier, two deaths were reported in Latakia."

1700 GMT: After US President Barack Obama and Saudi King Abdullah had discussed the situation in Syria. the White House said in a statement:

The two leaders expressed their shared, deep concerns about the Syrian government's use of violence against its citizens and agreed that the Syrian regime's brutal campaign of violence against the Syrian people must end immediately.

See Also: Syria Feature: Hama, the City That Refused to Die

1645 GMT: Al-Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from al-Aziziya.

See Also: Sounds of a Revolution: The Music of Maher Zain (FOLEY)

1630 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says soldiers and Assad loyalists have raided Jousiyah village near the Lebanese border, carrying out arrests. 

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: And So Another Friday....

2016 GMT: Hundreds are arriving in Tahrir Square, as police block the gathering crowds from forming:

2012 GMT: The LCCS has this update on Daraa, an important neighborhood of Damascus:

Daraa: In an extremely tense situation, security forces are firing on women participating in a sit-in in Al-Hara city to demand that their detained children be released

Large demonstrations are reported across Syria. Like we said yesterday, this is the "new normal."

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The "New Normal"

1756 GMT: Semih Idiz offers an analysis on whether or not a visit by Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to Syria will be effective. His conclusion is that Turkey has little recourse, and Assad is likely trying to bide time for his reforms to kick in (and I would add, he is attempting to discourage the opposition by killing it, a tactic which seems to be failing thus far). However, Idiz offers this interesting paragraph, hinting that even Assad will find it difficult to change Syria:

Regardless of his talk about reforms, Assad is not in a position to allow this even if he wanted to, given the privileges the Alawite minority has secured for itself over the decades and which it is unlikely to give up without a fight. The question for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan then is what happens if Assad does not comply with Turkey’s demands.

1747 GMT: The international human rights organisation Avaaz is reporting that 2 people have been killed today in a renewed military campaign against the city of Hama, Syria.

1743 GMT: US President Barack Obama and Turkey Prime Minister Erdogan conferred today, over the phone, about the ongoing crisis in Syria:

The White House says that in a call Obama made to Erdogan Thursday, the pair agreed that the violence in Syria must stop and the demands of the Syrian people for a transition to democracy must be met. Obama and Erdogan agreed to consult closely in the coming days as the situation in Syria develops.

1709 GMT: The LCCS is reporting that 12 people have been killed today in Syria, 11 in Qussair, outside of Homs.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Raising Shoes to Assad

See Also Syria Video Special: The Destruction of Deir Ez Zor

Syria Video Analysis: Assessing Propaganda and "Truth" on Both Sides
Bahrain Video: How to Confuse Security Forces --- Use a Laser Pointer
Tuesday's Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil in the West, Turmoil in the East

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2030 GMT: Night videos from Syria are coming in --- some of them are too dark to feature, but they include a march in Talbiseh in the south sympathising with the victims of Homs and the burning of a picture of President Assad in Jableh on the coast.

Kafranbel in the northwest:

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Turmoil in the West, Turmoil in the East

1955 GMT: Night protests in Al Mayadin, Deir Ez Zor:

1953 GMT: The people of Amouda, al Hasaka, Syria, protest tonight:

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