Syria Live Coverage: Regime Rejects UN Human Rights Enquiry

Claimed footage of "liberation" of Saham near Golan Heights by insurgents on Saturday

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Syria Debate: Does the "Free Syrian Army" Exist?
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Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Fighting in Aleppo and near Damascus

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1749 GMT: Opposition Leader Resigns. The Syrian National Coalition has refused the resignation of its head, Moaz al-Khatib, asking him to go back to his work.

1719 GMT: Attacks in Damascus. Journalist Alex Thomson reports that insurgents have hit State television in the capital:

Two mortars have hit STV building and carpark. Some damage and vehicles destroyed.

— alex thomson (@alextomo) March 24, 2013

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Syria Live Coverage: Damascus Suicide Bomb Kills 42, Including Top Cleric

2022 GMT: Evening Protests. In Al Raqqah, the regime is rapidly fading into memory as protesters take to the streets tonight:

1955 GMT: Rebels Advance in Aleppo. The rebels are successfully pushing deeper and deeper into southern and western Aleppo. Rebels have now captured an important mosque in the Saleh el Dine district (map). Videos showed the rebels capturing ammunition that was apparently stored inside the mosque by nearby fighters.

Below is a playlist of several videos showing rebel fighters advancing in Saleh el Dine and elsewhere today:

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Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Gathers to Name A Prime Minister

Claimed footage of insurgents hitting a regime tank in Idlib Province

See also Syria Video Discussion: Two Years After the Start of the Uprising
Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Dozens Arrested in Cairo Protests
Sunday's Syria Live Coverage: Fighting Escalates Near Damascus

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2110 GMT: Damascus. An opposition Facebook page has claimed "a number of 120mm heavy caliber mortars...in a joint operation coordinated with battalions operating in Damascus".

Targets included the Presidential Palace, Damascus International Airport, and security buildings.

"The operation comes in conjunction with the second anniversary of the start of our revolution, which is a revolution of freedom and dignity against the despotic regime of the criminal Bashar al-Assad," the statement said.

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Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Leaders Cancel Trip to Washington --- Why?

1950 GMT: Friday Protests. With UN kidnappings and Damascus on fire, it's easy to lose the fact that today is Friday, and every Friday for almost two whole years there have been widespread protests. Today's protest theme roughly translates to "Your sectarian state will not pass," but that's a literally translation. Essentially, it means "Assad's sectarian state will not happen," a reference to Assad's efforts to stoke sectarian tensions, and a reference to the world's tendency to classify this conflict in purely sectarian terms.

An impressive rally today in Yabroud, north of Damascus (map). This area is on the edge of both rebel-controlled territory and some of the most substantial military bases in the Middle East, and is often attacked by regime airpower:

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting on the Iraq Border

Extract from President Assad's interview with Sunday Times of London (see 0800 GMT)

See also Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo

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2205 GMT: Casualties. Footage, with graphic images of the wounded, has been posted of the aftermath of regime shelling of the Damascus suburb of Douma.

1840 GMT: Elections in Insurgent-Held Areas. A vote has been held to elect 29 council members for insurgent-held areas in Aleppo Province.

"For the first time, Aleppo will have a freely elected provincial council. We hope the whole of Syria will have a free election soon," candidate Yehia Naanaa from Hreitan said.

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Syria Audio Feature: The Questions Beyond the Friends of Syria Meeting --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24

Opposition head Moaz al-KhatibJust after the conclusion of the Friends of Syria meeting yesterday, I worked with Monocle 24's The Briefing to assess the significance and look at the important questions that follow.

Listen to discussion from 6:11 on The Briefing homepage or in a pop-out window.

In particular, we discussed the public promise by the US of $60 million in "non-lethal" aid to get to the not-so-public story of the arming of the insurgency.

The Syrian National Coalition wants a protected zone in the northwest to establish a de facto Government, but how far will Washington and its allies go in support of that, as well as the weapons supply to the insurgents in the south?

Syria Live Coverage: US "Non-Lethal" Assistance --- and More --- for the Insurgency

2027 GMT: Closer to a Diplomatic Solution? Long-time readers will know that we've never been confident that a political settlement to this crisis was possible. However, it does appear that such a solution has never stood a better chance than it does today. As one reader suggested to me on Twitter, the SANA response to John Kerry's saber-rattling was "not very strong, leaving a breathing space" in which negotiations could take place. In fact, the same reader reminds us that Moaz al Khatbib's first demand has been met today, an extension of foreign passports, potentially signifying that the regime is clearing the way to have some dialogue with the opposition:

State news agency SANA said the Ministry of Interior extended the validity of Syrian passports to 10 years from six and that all expired passports for Syrian nationals abroad would be renewed for two years.

Syrian expatriates are unable to travel on expired passports and many Syrians abroad complain they have faced problems in renewing or getting residency visas for out-of-date documents.

Moaz al-Khatib, head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said he would speak to Assad's representatives if expired passports were extended for two years. He also demanded 160,000 prisoners be released prior to talks.

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Syria Live Coverage: Insurgent Attacks in Damascus

2106 GMT: Hezbollah Convoy - continued. As many readers have pointed out, there is no strong evidence that the mine attack in the last video worked at all. We'll have to see if we get more videos or other news sources, but it's worth watching.

2049 GMT: Hezbollah Convoy Destroyed? Since this morning there have been rumors that a convoy of Hezbollah fighters was destroyed on a highway near Damascus. French media, citing Voice of Lebanon radio and an official in the Free Syrian Army, said that "senior Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah and Syrian officers" were targeted. An opposition Facebook page suggested that the officials were on a way to a security meeting and were destroyed by landmines placed on the road.

Now, Al Jazeera's Arabic channel has picked up the report, and has played video that they say shows the attack:

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Syria Live Coverage: Insurgents Capture Symbolic "Nuclear" Site

2319 GMT: More Fighting in Damascus. It's late, past 1 AM in in Syria, but there are still fresh reports of explosions and gunfire there tonight. This video was reportedly taken in Baramkeh, in west-central Damascus, not far from Tishreen and the heart of the Assad regime (map):

The explosions and gunshots being heard from Baramkeh in the heart of #Damascus tonight.youtube.com/watch?v=2xhqtE…

— NMSyria (@NMSyria) February 25, 2013

2303 GMT: Surface-to-Surface Missiles. Tonight there are reports that more "Scuds" have launched from the regime's 155th Brigade base in Quteifeh, northeast of Damascus (map). Last week, when there were similar reports, dozens died in Aleppo province when several missiles hit residential areas, crumbling buildings and trapping residents. Those rockets fell on areas just north of Aleppo's airport, an airport that was reportedly being overrun by rebels. Today the airport was once again under attack. No word yet what was targeted by these latest strikes, however.

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Syria Live Coverage: Civilian Deaths in Aleppo

The destruction in the Al-Bab section of Aleppo

See also Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Conflicting Claims Over Palestinian Who Died in Israeli Custody
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Boycotts International Talks Over Aleppo Deaths

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1816 GMT: Regime Strike. At the end of this clip, a direct hit on an insurgent truck with an anti-aircraft gun in Khan al-Asal in Aleppo Province:

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