Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: UN Talks, Damascus Fights

1958 GMT: Syria. Defections have been occurring at a faster and faster pace, but today there were reports that a relative trickle, perhaps a hundred ot a few hundred soldiers every week, may have finnaly reached flood-stage, with unconfirmed reports that hundreds of fighters jumped ship.

There are reports that a single new brigade of Free Syrian Army soldiers, the "Unification Brigade" claiming to be made up of soldiers from many different backgrounds, contained more than 100 soldiers, all of whom appear to be heavily armed, and that those soldiers are also equipped with multiple vehicles armed with heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons.

Massive Brigade of the FSA formed in #Aleppo - "Unification Brigade" - youtube.com/watch?v=AGIky5… #Syria

— Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) July 18, 2012

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Annan "The Evidence Shows We Have Not Succeeded"

Claimed video of protests in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province tonight (see 2050 and 2105 GMT)

See also Syria Propaganda 101: How PR Firm Brown Lloyd James Polished the Regime's Image
Saturday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 89 Deaths, 672 Protests, and a "Liberated" Regime Convoy

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2050 GMT: Saudi Arabia. The Minister of Interior has confirmed that prominent Shi’a Muslim cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was arrested in Eastern Province late Sunday after he was shot in the leg by police.

Reports of the Sheikh's arrest brought demonstrations in the mostly Shi’a Qatif region of the Eastern Province, which has been the focal point of protests alleging discrimination.

The Ministry claimed, “When the aforementioned person [al-Nimr] and those with him tried to resist the security men and initiated shooting and crashed into one of the security patrols while trying to escape, he was dealt with in accordance with the situation and responded to in kind and arrested after he was wounded in his thigh."

Al-Nimr was taken to hospital and accused of sedition. He was previously detained for several days in 2004 and 2006

“They (police) took him from his car and blood can be seen near his car,” said his brother Mohammed al-Nimr. “He had been wanted by the interior ministry for a couple of months because of his political views. In the past couple of months he has adopted a lot of Shi’ite issues and expressed his views on them, demanding their rights."

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