Libya in Photos: The Fighters of Misurata

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Libya: Scott Lucas on the BBC "The Opposition and Britain's Military Advisors"

I joined BBC Newshour this afternoon to discuss the news that Britain is sending military advisors to Libya's oppositional National Transitional Council in Benghazi.

The BBC's "hook" for the interview was the analogy, made by critics of the move, that the despatch of advisors is similar to John F. Kennedy's creation of the Green Berets for advice and operations in South Vietnam from 1961.

For me, it's a false analogy, and it misses the important issues in Libya. The discussion begins at the 44-minute mark.

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching for Reactions

Prayer at Protest in Homs, Syria (Photo: Reuters)2110 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on Yemeni authorities to explain why they have held journalist Ali Salah Ahmed since Tuesday without revealing his location or charging him with a crime.

Ahmed, an anchor for the privately-owned news channel Suhail, with ties to the opposition party Al-Islah, was seized upon his arrival from Germany.

Ahmed worked for several years as the program director of the official state-run television station Yamania but resigned in 2009 denouncing government attempts to manipulate news coverage of civil unrest in southern Yemen.

Ahmad al-Mohamadi, a reporter for Suhail, is also missing after he was called in for questioning Saturday by the Republican Guards.

The CPJ also highlighted the testimony of several journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan, who said anti-riot police attacked them on Monday as they were covering protests in Erbil.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Another Centre of Protest?

2045 GMT: The opposition party Wefaq has issued a statement that security forces arrived at two medical centers, Ibn Sina and al-Razi, and seized an unknown number of people.

"They detained doctors, nurses and other staff and brought them to an unknown location. We are worried what happened to them," said Wefaq politician Mattar Ibrahim Mattar. "I cannot reach by phone my brother who works in Razi."

An activist who works for the government said he saw more than a dozen members of the security forces surrounding al-Razi medical center while arrests were made inside.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protests and Battles

2100 GMT: Developments in Syria tonight....

The Syrian Minister of Interior says protests amount to "armed insurrection" and has called on citizens to "report terrorists".

The statement comes after more than 5,000 anti-regime protesters took over the main square of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, vowing to occupy the site until President Assad steps down. More than 10,000 mourners had marched in funeral processions for some of those killed in clashes on Sunday.

A video of protest this evening:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Speech and a City Demolished

1920 GMT: Doctors say Yemeni security forces wounded at least 10 people when they fired on a protest march in Sanaa today.

About 200 more demonstrators were overcome by tear gas when they marched outside their normal protest zone in the streets near Sanaa University.

"We neared the Sanaa Trade Center when police confronted us with tear gas, and suddenly opened heavy gunfire on us from all directions," said Sabry Mohammed, a protester. "A state of terror set in among the demonstrators, and some of them fled into side streets."

1915 GMT: State TV reports that Oman plans to spend 1 billion rials ($2.6 billion) to "satisfy the demands" of protesters seeking jobs and political reforms.

Earlier this spring, up to seven people died in a series of demonstrations against the regime of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Dozens of protesters have continued to camp in tents near the country's Shura Council in the capital Muscat.

The Sultan's office did not specify how the money would be spent.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Serious is This? (Continued)

1900 GMT: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times, who has been reporting from Misurata in Libya, posts this photograph of the war-torn city:

And for comparsion, this was Misurata in August 2010:

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Obama in Libya: The Issue is Not Why, But How (Bacevich)

Whatever his motives, by conforming to a pre-existing American penchant for using force in the Greater Middle East, this president has chosen the wrong tool.  In doing so, he condemns himself and the country to persisting in the folly of his predecessors.  The failure is one of imagination, but also of courage.  He promised, and we deserve something better.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Calling for Assistance

2135 GMT: In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Shia protesters gathered in Qatif and Awwamiya in Eastern Province for a second consecutive day, calling for the release of prisoners held without trial and for political and religious rights.

2125 GMT: Bahraini students in Britain say the regime has stripped government-funded scholarships from at least nine candidates who attended a pro-democracy protest outside the BBC building in Manchester last month. The students claimed officials had told parents to order their children home, and they feared they would be arrested if they returned.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Defiances

1915 GMT: More confusion over the situation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak....

Egyptian State TV is reporting that Mubarak suffered a heart attack during questioning over corruption charges. However, the prosecutor's office has denied that Mubarak was interviewed today.

Mubarak was hospitalized at Sharm el-Sheikh International Hospital, state media reported.

1855 GMT: Bahraini officials are claiming that three shotguns and Molotov cocktails were found in a mosque in Malikiya today.

1850 GMT: Claimed footage of an anti-regime protest in Syria today:

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