Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Return to Violence in Tahrir Square

A protester in Cairo's Tahrir Square last night

2055 GMT: Back to the lead story to wrap up today --- Ahram Online's video recording the clash in Cairo's Tahrir Square between security forces and protesters:

See also Egypt Feature: Clashes in Cairo

2100 GMT: Bahraini authorities have released 20 more medical staff who were detained in connection with the uprising against the regime, but they will still face military trial.

The 20 are among 48 doctors, nurses, and paramedics who were arrested. All by 14 have now been released, although the court proceedings, which have taken place over the last two weeks, will continues.

The release comes days before a "national dialogue" hailed by the regime as a chance for reconciliation.

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Egypt Analysis: Losing Human Rights in the Transition (El Amrani)

Mohammad Hossein Tantawi, Head of Supreme Military CouncilOne of the big questions for the future of Egypt is how to change the culture of police enforcement, security agencies and the army when it comes to accountability, respect of the rule of law, human rights practice and more generally attitudes towards public freedoms. It was always unrealistic to expect to change this overnight, and there are several problems to tackle --- to start with: 

• deeply ingrained institutional practices (sometimes codified in laws, regulations and procedures that have their origins in the days of British rule in Egypt, as well as the security state established by Nasser);  
• the need for a shift away from a culture of entitlement, paternalism, sexism, and authoritarianism;
• a structural adjustment to end a micro-economy of corruption that made police officers, for instance, resort to accepting bribes because their basic salaries are low and they were practically encouraged to be on the take to compensate. This of course benefited more senior officers who were engaged in more serious corruption (and were paid adequately) and shielded them from criticism, since everyone was on the take. 

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Holding the Lines

2115 GMT: Brigadier General Mansour Mohammed Abu Hajar, head of the Libyan Army's armoured vehicles and infantry division in Benghazi, said this afternoon that he and the division's personnel had joined the opposition: "[We] announce our joining of this blessed revolution, which we hope God Almighty will grant success and victory. We denounce the killing and the extermination of defenceless youths by the security brigades and hired mercenaries. I and all the division's personnel put ourselves at the disposal of this glorious revolution."

2110 GMT: In Yemen, tens of thousands of people have marched on the streets of the capital Sanaa, demanding the fall of the President Ali Abullah Saleh.

Saleh had asked on Monday for discussions for a new unity government, but he later turned from conciliation to allegation, warning that Yemen could be split into four parts and accusing the US and Israel of being behind the protests.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Another Tahrir Square?

2055 GMT: EA sources report that Internet service in Bahrain has slowed to a crawl, making it difficult even to send e-mails.

2015 GMT: Reuters report three people were killed and about 30 wounded in Kut in southern Iraq as about 2000 protesters demanding better basic services fought with police and set government buildings on fire.

2010 GMT: Al Jazeera English reports that hundreds of protesters "torched" Libyan police outposts in the eastern city of Al-Bayda (see video at 1745 GMT), while chanting: "People want the end of the regime."

In the southern city of Zentan, 120 km (75 miles) south of Tripoli, hundreds of people marched through the streets and set fire to security headquarters and a police station, then set up tents in the heart of the town

Police reportedly fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, arresting 20, in Benghazi. Families of those arrested are reportedly planning to gather outside the city's security directorate to demand their release.

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Egypt Snap Analysis: Yesterday Celebration, Today Hard Work

In the midst of the ecstasy that followed the news of former President Mubarak's departure from power, an Egyptian contact wrote EA, "Today celebration. Tomorrow hard work."

That may seem an unusual statement, given the magnitude of what has occurred in Egypt. For the first time in its modern history, a leader has left office because of the will of the people. The scenes of joy, relief, and hope may not be matched --- anywhere --- for a long time.

However, Mubarak was only the head of a system which had controlled Egyptian affairs for almost 60 years. The body remains. 

The military is there. Its decision yesterday --- to let the protesters advance in thousands on the State TV building and on the Presidential Palace --- was instrumental in pushing the President onto the plane to Sharm al-Sheikh, only hours after he had defied them as well as the demonstrators in his speech insisting he would stay until September. Now it is formally in charge of Egypt, with a Supreme Military Council chaired by Minister of Defense Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

At one level, the political demand is straightforward. The arrangement must lead to genuine, free, fair elections in September. Egyptians must have the opportunity to be represented by a Government which they have chosen.

But that is only one level. The body of Egypt for six decades has also been an elite which ran, and profited from, economic and social as well as political matters. Eventually this found its form in the one-party grip of the National Democratic Party. Politics and business were linked together through the NDP, supported by the military and police. Several key MPs and prominent figures have left the party during this crisis, but others remain.

So as in Tunisia, where the people eventually moved against the Rally for Constitutional Democracy, which had held power since the country's independence, the challenge for protest and change advances. Will Egypt's spirit of liberation continue against the structure that has underpinned the country for so long? Can it?

Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: One More Push

2115 GMT: Clashes between opposition members in Algeria, celebrating the fall of Egypt's President Mubarak, and police who surrounded the headquarters of Rally for Constitutional Democracy, have left an "unknown number" arrested and injured. 

2110 GMT: In a phone call with a former Israeli government minister yesterday, former President Mubarak called the US policy in Middle East misguided and said that Egyptians were not ready for democracy. He warned that the Middle East would fall to extremism and fundamentalist Islamism with his departure. 

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Big Day --- And Not Just in Cairo

0107 GMT: Fox News reports that an assassination attempt on newly-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman left two people dead this week. Neither Fox nor anyone else has confirmed this story. When asked the question, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this to say: 

"I'm not going to ... get into that question,"

0100 GMT: Members of hacktivist group Anonymous have targeted the government websites of Yemen and Egypt in solidarity with the protests in those country against the dictators. They used Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) attacks to make websites unavailable for viewing. 

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: So What is an "Orderly Transition"?

2250 GMT: Ivan Watson of CNN reports that the Egyptian Ministry of Information has told them all cell phone service will be shut down just ahead of tomorrow's expected 'Million Man March'. 

2242 GMT: Are you in Egypt? Do you have a phone? Do you want to tweet about the uprising, but don't have internet because it has been shut down? Then, Google has good news for you and us all. Googleblog just ran this post:

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Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Restoring Order?

0615 GMT: Here's the sign that we have moved from Sunday into Monday --- a Cairo observer reports, "Good morning. I could still hear chanting at 4AM. I could still hear chanting at 8AM. People are roaming Tahrir square now."

A BBC correspondent reports "small numbers" of police on the streets of Cairo.

0600 GMT: Laura Rozen of Politico gives some insight into how the US Administration is now doing crisis management on Egypt:

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