Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Mr Al-Dabi, Can You See the Violence Now?

A woman paints her message on a street in Deir Ez Zor in northeast Syria: "Down with Bashar"

See also Syria Special: Observing the Observers --- Evidence of The Abuses in Homs
Egypt Video: Alaa Abd-El Fattah Speaks Out After Release from Prison
Egypt Feature: "The One Citizen" --- Political Prisoner Maikel Nabil's Powerful Critique
Egypt Special: Are Writing and Walking Really Such a Threat to the Regime?
Wednesday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Will Arab League Observers Make a Difference?

---

1815 GMT: Egypt. With reports that the march swelled to 1000 demonstrators, protesters on the Free Maikel Nabil are now rallying outside the Supreme Court. On twitter, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi relays some of the chants:

Bring Maikal from the cell!' "Maikal Maikal you hero, your imprisonment sets the nation free.

O freedom where are you? Scaf is standing between us.

Continuing a strategy increasingly being seen in Egypt, activists are projecting footage of crimes and beatings committed by SCAF onto the Supreme Court walls:

Click to read more ...

US WikiLeaks Video: The Persecution of Bradley Manning --- State Department Spokesman Flounders

Matthew Lee of the Associated Press and Arshad Mohammed of Reuters test State Department spokesman Mark Toner --- how can the Department's report on human rights be reconciled with the complaint of the UN Special Rapporter on Human Rights and the International Red Cross that they cannot get access to Private Bradley Manning, detained over his alleged passing of documents to WikiLeaks?

Toner fails.

The Latest from Iran (1 April): A Burst of Green

2040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports that detained activist Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour is in a coma after a hunger strike and has been transferred to hospital.

Mohtashamipour, the wife of imprisoned reformist leader Mostafa Tajzadeh, had said she would fast if she was not allowed to visit her husband.

2030 GMT: Your Tehran Friday Prayer Update --- An Update. Well, I guess I owe Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami an apology --- while he was making a grand tour of Egypt-Libya-Yemen-Bahrain to blame the West for distortions, manipulations, and general evil, he did have a chat with the faithful about the situation in Iran today.

Khatami took his lead from the Supreme Leader's 2011 theme of "economic jihad" to declare there would be economic growth, a narrowed gap between those with high and low incomes, and a one-digit unemployment rate.

The Ayatollah assured that Iran would have 8% economic growth rate in the 5th 5-Year Plan (2010-2015), even though that plan has not been passed by Parliament, and said officials of the country have had successful projects for employment.

But he still didn't mention Syria.

Click to read more ...