Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Annan in Damascus, Burning a Headquarters in Cairo

Protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square with a "crossed-out" poster of Presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Stories from Houla --- Playing Dead While Your Family is Killed
Bahrain Live Coverage: Activist Alkhawaja Ends His 110-Day Hunger Strike
Monday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Condemns Houla "Massacre"...As Assad's Forces Shell Hama

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2040 GMT: Syria. The Local Co-ordinating Committees of Syria says 72 people have died in violence today, including 24 in Homs Province.

2000 GMT: Syria. Back to our opening story, with a far-from-positive signal from the meeting between United Nations envoy Kofi Annan and President Assad.

Annan's spokesman confined himself to general rhetoric about the discussion, with the UN envoy conveying "the grave concern of the international community about the violence in Syria" and continuing:

The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue and the abuses are still with us today.

I appealed to him for bold steps now -- not tomorrow, now -- to create momentum for the implementation of the plan.

The real tip-off on the talks comes from Syrian State news agency SANA, in its headline "Success of Annan's Plan Depends on Stopping Terrorism and Weapon Smuggling" and text:

President al-Assad pointed out that the armed terrorist groups escalated their terrorist acts noticeably as of late in various areas across Syria, committing murder and abduction against Syrian citizens in addition to robberies and targeting public and private properties with arson and vandalism.

He stressed the need for the countries who are financing, arming and harboring the terrorist groups to commit to Annan's plan, and that these countries' political will to participate in stopping terrorism must be put to the test.

President al-Assad affirmed to Annan that the success of his plan depends on stopping weapon smuggling and curbing terrorism and those who support it.

Translation? Assad and the regime have told Annan that the insurgents, and any international supporters of them, have to make the initial concessions --- laying down arms and accepting Government authority throughout the country. That in turn means there will be no pull-back of regime forces or let-up of shelling when Assad's military feel they are being challenged.

I will be speaking with Monocle 24 about this at 2110 GMT.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

UN military observers view dozens of victims of Friday's killings in Houla in Syria

See also Bahrain Special: Preaching Religious Tolerance, Practicing Religious Discrimination
Bahrain Live Coverage: UN Human Rights Council Sends Message to Regime
Friday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for a Presidential Outcome
Egypt Opinion: A Reminder After the Presidential Vote "The Revolution Lives"

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2015 GMT: SyriaTonight's protest in the Kafarsouseh section of Damascus, in sympathy with the people of Houla:

1945 GMT: Algeria. Lawmakers of the "moderate" Islamic Green Algeria Alliance and two smaller Islamic factions have walked out of the inaugural session of the new Parliament to protest against an election they claim was rigged to give a majority to the ruling party.

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: More than 50 Die in Houla; A Presidential Run-Off in Cairo

Saturday's Live Coverage has now been moved to the top of the homepage....

Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Waiting for a Presidential Outcome

2103 GMT: Syria. According to the Local Coordinating Committees, today's death toll has risen to 51, with at least 40 killed in Houla, Homs (see previous updates).

2054 GMT: Egypt. It was messy, it was long awaited, it was ovedue, it's going to be disappointing to some, but it's hard to argue that it isn't historic. There are the results of the first presidential election in Egypt:

1. Mursi 5,553,097 (25.30 per cent)

2. Shafiq 5,210,978 (23.74 per cent)

3. Sabbahi 4,739,983 (21.60 per cent)

4. Abul-Fotouh 3,936,264 (17.93 per cent)

5. Moussa 2,407,837 (10.97 per cent)

As we predicted earlier, the results will trigger a runoff election between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi and Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander and Mubarak's last Prime Minister.

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Egypt Opinion: A Reminder After the Presidential Vote "The Revolution Lives"

Democracy is here to stay. It may seem like it's not working right now, but it's the first semi-free presidential election ever. Give this democracy time to take up roots, to dominate, to become the only way of governance acceptable to all. 

In time, the frightened generation of cowering acceptance will wither away. The children of today will become parents and when the time comes, all of them --- not just some of them --- will join hands with the children they have raised to respect reform, human rights, and democracy. They will continue to go to the polls, not to enshrine the obsolete faces of power but to improve the future beyond those faces.

Respect, Tahriris, respect.

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Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Election in Cairo, Conflict Beyond Damascus

1924 GMT: Syria. Speaking of gasoline, scenes like the one below, reportedly taken today in Kanaker, Damascus, are increasingly common. The prices of refined gasoline and diesel have skyrocketed, and widespread shortages are reported. The government claims that the shortages are the result of sanctions, but as Robert Ford points out (in the previous update) refined oil was exempt from foreign sanctions in order to avoid this problem. These shortages are the result of the military using up all the fuel.

1835 GMT: Syria. The Syrian government claims that foreign economic sanctions have cost the country $4 billion, a number which is low, according to many other estimates:

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: How Long Can This Go On?

A rally in Bahrain calls for the hanging of detainees who allegedly killed policemen in March 2011 (see 1039 GMT)

See also Bahrain Video Feature: The Second "Manama March" and the Police Response
Morocco Feature: Will a Rapper's Release Be the Catalyst for More Protests?
Syria Opinion: The Assad Regime Cannot End this Crisis
Friday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Attack in Homs

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2127 GMT: Reuters has more on the attack by Syrian troops, backed by tanks, on Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon.

"Communications have been cut but we managed to get through to several people. Tanks are bombarding the town and have entered the outskirts, but they are being met with resistance. The Free Syrian Army (army defectors) has strong presence in the area," Kamal al-Labwani, a senior opposition figure from Zabadani who fled to Jordan two weeks ago, said.

Al-Labwani continued, "The people of Zabadani have taken up arms to protect themselves and I am afraid we could see lots of casualties. At least 50 tanks are involved in the attack and explosions are already being heard in residential areas."

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