Syria Live Coverage: The Regime's Shelling of Homs

2331 GMT: Governor of al Raqqah. A picture for comparison:

PHOTO: Governor of Al-Raqqa Hassan Jalili and head of Ba'ath Party branch Suleiman al-Suleiman in FSA custody. twitter.com/NMSyria/status…

— NMSyria (@NMSyria) March 4, 2013

Jalali with Assad, for reference:

2303 GMT: Governor of Al Raqqah in Rebel Custody. Hassan Saleh Jalali, governor of Al Raqqah, appears to be in custody of the rebels. A video has been sent to us over Twitter, but several others have also been posted online:

Click to read more ...

Middle East Feature: Why are Arab Journalists The "Unknown Soldiers" in Battle for Truth? (Al-Nassrawi)

After a career of nearly forty years in journalism, including assignments and newsroom work for some 30 years with Western news organizations, I can say with a clear conscience that there is nothing to compare with the knowledge and courage of some Arab journalists who work with foreign media and whose input to the Middle East coverage has been invaluable.

Yet, these journalists have remained "unknown soldiers" in the raging battle for truth and accuracy, in a crude manifestation of denial and prejudice. Those who are familiar with what I am talking about know pretty well that this is a phenomenon which speaks volumes about the kind of reporting the Middle East receives in the Western media.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Defiance

An insurgent fires at a regime tank in Idlib Province in the northwest

See also Syria Video Special: Interview of Paul Conroy, Survivor of Baba Amr
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Assad Will Have to Kill Us All"

---

2200 GMT: After clashes in Sitra in Bahrain today, a police SUV lost control and hit a wall, then burned. The Ministry of Interior reported that four policemen were injured.

An EA correspondent reports, "Sitra is now blocked by police am trying to find away in. Expectations of raids on houses & arrests on the island".

Click to read more ...

Syria Video Special: Interview of Paul Conroy, Survivor of Baba Amr

Sky News interviews The Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, injured in the attack in Baba Amr, Homs, that killed American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

See Also Syria Opinion: "There Are Many Others Who Await Homs' Fate"
Friday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "Assad Will Have to Kill Us All"

---

The Guardian partially transcribes the interview:

Click to read more ...

Syria Special: Intervention is Coming --- So How Should It Be Done? (Hirsh and Slaughter)

Claimed footage of a firefight in Homs on Friday between regime forces and the Free Syrian Army

---

Friday's developments, both in public and behind the scenes, indicated that international intervention is not just on the way for Syria --- it has already begun. On Monday, an EA analysis assessed the options, concluding that arming the opposition could do more harm than good but that a no-fly zone protecting both insurgents and civilians might be possible.

Two new analyses pick up on this. Michael Hirsh writes how history indicates the US and Western Europe will eventually intercede in the crisis, so we should do it sooner rather than later. Anne-Marie Slaughter analyses how the world could intervene in Syria in order to stop the Assad regime.

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths of The Journalists

The award-winning photograph from Libya by Remi Ochlik, who died on Wednesday in Syria

See also Journalism Feature: Marie Colvin Remembered --- "To Report These Horrors of War With Accuracy and Without Prejudice"
Syria Video Feature: Life and Death in Homs
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Death of A Journalist

---

2140 GMT: In Palmyra in Syria, a cameraman films a man firing a rocket-propelled grenade, which strikes far too close for comfort:

2120 GMT: Back from a break to find the report of the Local Coordination Councils of Syria that 101 people, including 14 children, died across the country today --- 47 in Idlib Province, 26 martyrs in Hama, nine in Deir Ez Zor, seven in Daraa, five in Quneitra, four in Homs, two in Raqqa, two in the Damascus suburbs, and one in Aleppo.

Click to read more ...

Journalism Feature: Marie Colvin Remembered --- "To Report These Horrors of War With Accuracy and Without Prejudice"

Marie Colvin, Chechnya, 1999

Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice. We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?

Click to read more ...

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Death of A Journalist

Marie Colvin, the journalist for The Sunday Times killed in Syria today, speaks to CNN on Tuesday about the death of a baby in Homs

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: US Activist Radhika Sainath "Joining the Protests, Being Detained"
Syria Feature: Homs --- Dying Without Food, Medicine, or Supplies

Syria Special: Points to Consider When Arming an Opposition
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "A City of Torture"

---

2015 GMT: In Idlib in Syria, a gunman fires in the direction of the cameraman who screams, "Damn it, that was right beneath me!":

Protesters at Aleppo University raise the Syrian "Flag of Independence" today:

Click to read more ...