Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A New Dialogue?

1850 GMT: According to a source in Bahrain, when detained teacher Jalila Al Salman was released from prison, she immediately joined a protest, organized by Al Wefaq, that was designed to press for her release. A photo gallery of the event can be found here.

1826 GMT: We have received this video, reportedly showing Syrian soldiers firing guns and rockets into the city of Hama. The video appears to be leaked, and it is very unclear when it was taken. As such, it's very hard to cross-verify this video with eyewitness reports, though there have been plenty of reports of violence over the last few weeks in Hama.

The LCCS had these reports from Hama today, though because this video is leaked, and undated, we don't know when the video was actually taken:

Hama: security forces are heavily spread in the Al-Amiriyeh neighborhood amid widespread detention campaign. Of the detainees is Amir Salha

Hama: Hayaleen: security forces raided the village in a major security force to arrest Sheikh Ammar Khaled Al-Mansour, Imam of Al-Kabeer mosque, and to terrorize the people

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Bahrain Snapshot: Obama Administration's Ineffectual Plea to Crown Prince "Please Change"

The significance of this article by Mark Landler of The New York Times is not in the immediate story of Obama Administration officials meeting the Crown Prince of Bahrain in Washington this week but in the political reality beyond the encounter.

The Administration's strategy of persuasion, alongside some mildly critical rhetoric, is unlikely to achieve much, if anything, in Bahrain. Indeed, as Landler indicates below, the Crown Prince's visit may be a political sideshow --- in mid-March, his approach of engagement of some elements of the opposition to discuss reform was quashed by other members of the ruling family, and he has struggled to regain influence since then.

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WikiLeaks & Bahrain 2008: Assessing Iran's "Threat"

Feb 2009: Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and Manouchehr Mottaki In the context of the Bahraini regime's claims that Tehran is behind the wave of protests that started 14 February, Western media's depictions of a US concern with Iranian intervention, and Tehran's propaganda campaign highlighting Bahrain, this August 2008 cable for the US Embassy in Manama takes on significance.

Those who have noted the WikiLeaks document, from WikiLeaks, have seized on the Embassy's observation: "Bahraini government officials sometimes privately tell U.S. official visitors that some Shi'a oppositionists are backed by Iran. Each time this claim is raised, we ask the GOB to share its evidence. To date, we have seen no convincing evidence of Iranian weapons or government money here since at least the mid-1990s."

Yet the wider setting for Bahraini-Iranian relations deserves at least as much recognition: here are two regimes that are not necessarily enemies, but are willing to use each other as the "threat" for domestic consumption: "Bahrain's Sunni rulers view Iran with deep suspicion, and support USG efforts to pressure Iran to change its behavior. But the Al-Khalifas also seek to keep channels open, and make occasional gestures to placate their large, touchy neighbor."

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Libya, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Can a Proposal Avert A Crisis?

1915 GMT: A resident has told Reuters that regime forces are now in control of Zuara in the west of Libya.

1730 GMT: Media are reporting that regime tanks have entered the opposition-held town of Zuara, in the far west of Libya, and are moving toward the centre of the town.

1720 GMT: The Foreign Minister of the UAE says the country has sent 500 police to Bahrain.

1710 GMT: At least 30 people were injured when police opened fire on protesters in Marib Province in eastern Yemen.

Police also shot live ammunition at protesters in northeastern Jawf Province. In the capital, Sanaa, soldiers and armoured vehicles tried to cut off and surround an area near the university building where thousands of protesters have camped out for weeks.

Video of Sunday's clashes in Sanaa in Yemen that killed two and injured dozens:

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Egypt, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Dramas with State Security --- Continued

2050 GMT: Two claimed videos from Az Zintan, 160 km (100 miles) southwest of Tripoli, where the opposition says it attacked regime forces on the outskirts of the city: the first is of questioning of captured Qaddafi troops, the second is a brief clip of the pre-1969 flag flying over the town:

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Peace Plans?

2230 GMT: Judges threaten to strike if Mubarak's Minister of Justice, Mamdouh Marei, is included in the new cabinet.

2215 GMT: The latest pictures taken at Roundabout 7, in Bahrain. 

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Bahrain Analysis: A Revolution Paused (Kerr/Jones)

An uncertain calm has settled over the small island kingdom of Bahrain. The wave of peaceful pro-democracy protests from February 14-17 culminated in bloodshed, including the brutal murder of seven activists, some of whom were asleep in tents, by the armed forces. On orders from above, the army withdrew from the roundabout on the outskirts of the capital of Manama where the protests have been centered, and since shortly after the seven deaths it has observed calls for restraint. Thousands of jubilant protesters seized the moment to reoccupy the roundabout, the now infamous Pearl Circle. In commemoration of the dead, the demonstrators have renamed it Martyrs’ Circle. 

The mood in the circle is buoyant, even carnivalesque. It is also dead serious, for the thousands of encamped demonstrators demand nothing short of fundamental change to the kingdom’s autocratic political order.

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Libya, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Confrontations

2213 GMT: AFP, from local sources, estimates at least 41 people have lost their lives in Libya in violence since Tuesday.

Oea, a newspaper linked to Muammar Gaddafi's son Seif Al Islam, says demonstrators hung two state security officers in Al-Bayda.

2210 GMT: Britain Foreign Office has announced that some arms export authorisations for Bahrain and Libya are being revoked out of concern the weapons could be used to suppress internal unrest.

The Foreign Office said it was still reviewing export licenses for Yemen.

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