Arab Spring Alert: Why, Oh Why, Are You Ruining Our Fight Against Terrorism?

Britain's Tony Blair & Muammar Qaddafi, 2004You might think that the "Arab Spring" would bring hope to everyone, given calls for democracy, justice, civil society, political representation, freedom of expression and media.

Nope.

There is one group which is worried that all of these demonstrations and discussions might be aiding terrorism. "European and Israeli intelligence officers" are worried that friendly intelligence services --- you know, Mr Qaddafi's men in Libya, Mubarak's in Egypt, Ben Ali's in Tunisia --- are being disrupted by all this fuss on the streets.

Read on....

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: What to Do With the Opposition?

2000 GMT: The head of the United Nation's World Food Programme has warned that Libya's food supplies could be exhausted soon unless plans are put in place.

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said Supply concerns are particularly acute in the oppsoition-held east: "The challenge in Libya is that this is a centrally controlled food system that was run by the government, and it's not being restocked now. That whole system could run out of food in six to eight weeks."

"If we do not address the larger gaps in the food system in Libya -- particularly eastern Libya -- we'll have to envision a fairly massive humanitarian operation."

1940 GMT: Video of destruction in the southern Syrian town of Daraa, recorded after the withdrawal of military forces earlier today:

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Libya: Scott Lucas on the BBC "The Opposition and Britain's Military Advisors"

I joined BBC Newshour this afternoon to discuss the news that Britain is sending military advisors to Libya's oppositional National Transitional Council in Benghazi.

The BBC's "hook" for the interview was the analogy, made by critics of the move, that the despatch of advisors is similar to John F. Kennedy's creation of the Green Berets for advice and operations in South Vietnam from 1961.

For me, it's a false analogy, and it misses the important issues in Libya. The discussion begins at the 44-minute mark.

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Calling for Assistance

2135 GMT: In Saudi Arabia, hundreds of Shia protesters gathered in Qatif and Awwamiya in Eastern Province for a second consecutive day, calling for the release of prisoners held without trial and for political and religious rights.

2125 GMT: Bahraini students in Britain say the regime has stripped government-funded scholarships from at least nine candidates who attended a pro-democracy protest outside the BBC building in Manchester last month. The students claimed officials had told parents to order their children home, and they feared they would be arrested if they returned.

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Libya: Getting the Rebels Wrong (Abdurrahman)

Photo: New York TimesThe recent remarks by Adm. James Stavridis, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe, alleging "flickers in the intelligence of potential al Qaeda, Hezbollah" among Libyan rebels are indicative of a disturbing trend in much of the discussion --- and reporting --- on Libya over the past several weeks. Ambiguous statements linking Libya and al Qaeda have repeatedly been made in the media without clarifying or providing appropriate context to such remarks. In many instances, these claims have been distorted or exaggerated; at times they have simply been false.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Breakthrough?

1820 GMT: The Egyptian stock market has rised for a second day in a row, after almost two months of suspension and then a sharp fall on re-opening last week.

The EGX 30 Index rose 0.8% to 5,251.3 at the close. It has fallen 26% this year amidst the uprising against the Mubarak regime.

1715 GMT: British Tornado jets attacked and destroyed regime ammunition bunkers in the Sabha area of the southern desert early Monday.

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Covering Uncertainty

2155 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration today in opposition-held Misurata, 210 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli. The second clip is of a sit-in in the city's Tahrir Square in support of the citizens of Zawiyah, who had been holding out (ultimately unsuccessfully) against regime attacks:

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