Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Come On, Bashar, Leave!"

2115 GMT: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has just given a televised speech in which he declared that the "bloodshed of innocents, which has nothing to do with morals nor religion, is not acceptable" in Syria and Saudi Arabia cannot accept what is happening in Syria: "There is no justification."

Abdullah continued, "We demand a stop to the killings and bloodshed. Stop killing and start reforms".

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its Ambassador from Damascus "for consultations".

2050 GMT: Douma outside Damascus tonight after Taraweeh prayers for Ramadan:

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Revolution Renewed

Protests tonight in the Midan section of the Syrian capital Damascus

2050 GMT: Human Rights Watch says defectors from Syria’s security forces have described receiving orders from their superiors to fire live rounds at protesters to disperse them.

HRW issued a statement based on interviews with eight soldiers and four members of secret security agencies. The interviewees said they had participated across the country in the crackdown, including in Daraa, Izraa, Baniyas, Homs, Jisr al-Shughour, Aleppo, and Damascus. They said they had participated in and witnessed the shooting and wounding of dozens of protesters and the arbitrary arrests and detentions of hundreds of civilians.

All the interviewees say their superiors told them that they were fighting infiltrators, "salafists" (hard-line Sunni adherents), and terrorists, but they were surprised to encounter unarmed protesters instead. They said they were ordered to fire on the civilians, including children, in a number of instances.

The defectors also reported that those who refused orders to shoot on protesters ran the risk of being shot themselves. One of them said they witnessed a military officer shoot and kill two soldiers in Daraa for rejecting orders.

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