Tuesday
May172011
Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Finding the Dead
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:46 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Candle-lit demonstration in the Damascus suburb of Saqba last night
2045 GMT: Activists says Lebanon has detained at least two Syrian soldiers who crossed the border to escape clashes between security forces and protesters.
The soldiers reportedly fled after opening fire on regime troops attacking civilians near a border checkpoint that they were manning. One soldier is said to have been killed.
2040 GMT: Libyan officials said they have been trying unsuccessfully to contact Minister of Oil, Shukri Ghanem, who has reportedly defected (see 1030 GMT), for the past 24 hours.