In light of the news of the opposition advance, supported by coalition airstrikes, across central Libya and the apparent fallback of regime forces on Tripoli, this poster of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi may or may not be appropriate (hat tip to Pundit Kitchen):
Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 16:55 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 1842 GMT: Two Reuters television journalists --- producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji --- have been missing in Syria since Saturday night, when they were due to return to Lebanon.
1840 GMT: The opposition advance continued across north-central Libya this afternoon as insurgents re-claimed Bin Jawad. AFP said about 100 fighters danced and fired into the air in celebration in the town centre, singing: "Muammar, you're a dog --- we marched straight into Bin Jawad."
Bin Jawad was the far point of the opposition advance this month before the regime pushed back over the last three weeks, but the insurgents say they have surpassed this, taking the next town along the coast, Nufilia, only 100km (60 miles) from Sirte, a regime stronghold and birthplace of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, 370km (230 miles) east of Tripoli.
Al Jazeera reports that two loud explosions, presumably from airstrikes, have been heard in Sirte tonight.
A witness is reporting at least six explosions heard in Tripoli.
Earlier, French warplanes led air strikes on armoured vehicles and on a large ammunition depot near Misurata and Zintan, cities in west Libya that have been fought over for days by the opposition and regime.
Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 16:53 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2045 GMT: Reuters reports that French warplanes have destroyed five Libyan jets and two helicopters at Misurata airport.
2035 GMT: Video from Misurata in Libya of residents surrounding regime tanks:
2010 GMT: Syria's official news agency SANA has claimed that several people who were arrested by security forces during current protests are foreigners. One allegedly has US citizenship and is of Egyptian descent: “[The arrested man] admitted that he had secretly visited Israel and confessed to being funded from abroad in exchange for sending photos and videos about [the current events in] Syria.”
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 17:12 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2015 GMT: Graffiti in Syria, "Your turn has come, doctor", referring to President (and ophthalmologist) Bashar Al-Assad:
2005 GMT: Video of the protest by about 2000 people in front of State TV in Cairo today (see 1615 GMT):
"This is a limited humanitarian intervention, not war," White House Middle East strategist Dennis Ross, National Security Council strategic planning official Derek Chollet, and two military officials told a group of outside foreign policy and Middle East experts during a briefing at the White House Roosevelt Room Tuesday.
"We were looking at 'Srebrenica on steroids' --- the real or imminent possibility that up to a 100,000 people could be massacred, and everyone would blame us for it," Ross explained.
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.
The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities” --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.
AKP, Ahmet Davutoglu, Bashar al-Assad, Iran, Libya, NATO, Namik Tan, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, The Guardian, Turkey Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 8:22 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Daraa, Syria2105 GMT: Libyan State TV is reporting airstrikes target residential and military areas in Tripoli and firing from anti-aircraft positions.
2100 GMT: About 500 Jordanians have set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital Amman to press their demands for the removal of the Prime Minister (see 0805 GMT), wider public freedoms, reforms over the selection of the Parliament, and dissolution of the security services.
The group is calling itself "Youth of March 24".
I'm not saying that the news on Libyan State TV is far from "fair and balanced", but this fellow seems to out-do even Mr Glenn Beck for a unique perspective on events. In the middle of the news, he pulls out an AK-47 and declares, "In the name of Almighty God, I pledge to you, my Dear Leader, that I will sacrifice my last breath, my last bullet, my last drop of blood, last baby and child for you."
Fox News, Glenn Beck, Libya Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 9:29 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2215: A resident of Daraa in southern Syria says, after a day in which 15 people were killed by security forces:"The city is empty, only the army is in the street. Tomorrow we will be more and more in the streets."
2200 GMT: At least 40 people have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-regime tribesmen in the northern Yemeni governorate of Al-Jawf over the last five days.
Anti-regime tribesmen took over control of the 115th Infantry Division after its commander, Brigadier Abdurabu Hussein, refused to hand over the division to Brigadier Ali Haidara al-Henshi, appointed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh as a replacement.
An official with a non-government organisation said, "Strategic military positions in the governorate are now controlled by anti-government tribesmen and Houthi gunmen. About 20 troops and Houthi gunmen were killed in the latter's attack on the contingent."
2145 GMT: Video from Zintan in northwest Libya, as opposition fighters celebrate atop the regime's tanks and military vehicles. Soon after the filming, the cameraman was killed in the fighting:
I spoke with BBC Radio WM tonight about Muammar Qaddafi and the coalition efforts to remove him from power, talking about the Libyan leader's background and attempting to answer the question, "How long can this go on?"
The item starts at the 1:17.00 mark.
Libya, Muammar Qaddafi 
