Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Watching the Protests

2048 GMT: It may be nearly midnight in Bahrain, but the struggle between the protesters and the police continues. A source in Sitra reports:

"23:45 At the moment there is a helicopter flying on Sitra with spot light searching for protesters"

2036 GMT: A potentially very important video has been posted in our separate entry. Protesters gathered tonight in AL Hoole, Homs, unfurl a large banner with a clear request, written in both English and Arabic:

"No Fly Zone"

2023 GMT: We've posted a separate video feature tonight.

Today was busy, and with so many dramatic pictures, videos, and nuggets of news, the scale of the protests can easily be overlooked. In the liveblog, we have focused on the violence, but what occurred this Friday, like many others, was another mass demonstration of peaceful protesters, in nearly every corner of the country, demanding the resignation of those responsible for the violence.

Among the violence, the peaceful protests are being eclipsed by the media, but they have not gone away.

See the entry, Syria Video Special: "We'll Continue until the Regime is Toppled"

1952 GMT: WARNING, this video is VERY hard to watch. Bullets snap (which means they were very close) around a cameraman, as unarmed protesters flee back up the street, carrying a man who was apparently shot in the head. The video was reportedly taken today in Homs. It's very graphic:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protests, Funerals, and Burning Flags

2135 GMT: Earlier tonight, James Miller --- from a first-hand source in Bahrain --- reported on the death of Sayed Jawad from inhalation of tear gas fired by security forces (see 2011 and 2052 GMT).

This is the full statement just released by the regime's Bahrain News Agency:

A thirty-five year old Bahraini sickle cell patient has today passed away at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

2135 GMT: Earlier tonight, James Miller --- from a first-hand source in Bahrain --- reported on the death of Sayed Jawad from inhalation of tear gas fired by security forces (see 2011 and 2052 GMT).

Well, not according to the regime --- this is the full statement just released by the Bahrain News Agency:

A thirty-five year old Bahraini sickle cell patient has today passed away at Salmaniya Medical Complex.

“Sayyed Jawad Ahmed, from Sitra, died at 6.45 pm after suffering Acute Respiratory Syndrome Distress”, Health Ministry Public Relations director said.

2130 GMT: The pointed message from protesters in Homs tonight: "Where is Nabil Al-Arabi [Arab League Secretary-General]?", "Where is the Russian President?", "Where are the Arabs?"

In Anadan in Aleppo Province, the crowd chants,"Syria wants freedom":

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Iran Interview: Ahmadinejad to Washington Post "If US Gives Us Uranium, We Will Stop Production"

"If [the US] gives us uranium grade 20 percent, we would stop production. Those negotiations took place in Vienna. Apparently they know everything. I repeat: If you give us uranium grade 20 percent now, we will stop production."

This, in effect, is a return to Ahmadinejad's hopes for a deal in the autumn 2009 talks, where his effort to get an agreement was undermined by domestic opposition (as Weymouth astutely notes). Far from giving up the effort, this statement indicates he is determined to try once more.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Towards a Civil State?

Claimed footage of a mass funeral procession for Ezzat al-Baidee, the teenager whose death in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Monday was captured on video

See also When Israel & Turkey Co-operated: West Jerusalem Asks Ankara for Help with Hamas

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2040 GMT: A series of videos from around Homs in Syria tonight --- the Waar district:

Inshaat:

Ghouta:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Death in Detention

Protesters in Homs last night give a satirical "welcome" to Syrian President Assad's birthday

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2115 GMT: More criticism for the Syrian regime to consider tonight....

Three prominent Syrian clerics of the Alawite sect, to which President Assad belongs, have denounced the “atrocities” committed by the regime against protesters.

“We declare our innocence from these atrocities carried out by Bashar al-Assad and his aides who belong to all religious sects,” Mohib Nisafi, Yassin Hussein, and Mussa Mansour said in a joint statement from Homs.

The clerics continued, “The daily reports of kidnappings, killings and harassment of members of the Alawite sect are all untrue. They are designed and spread to cause divisions among people united against the regime....“The children of Homs, Sunnis, Alawite and Christians, have lived and will continue to live in coexistence and harmony.”

Then the clerics came out in opposition to the regime:

Six months have passed in this revolution and people have been killed or wounded. The climate is ripe for victory. There is no other way left to save the self except by joining the peaceful demonstrations.

This regime and its president will not rule you forever.

And then there are the nightly demonstrations --- the Kisweh section of Damascus:

Anadan in Aleppo Province:

Rastan in Homs Province:

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Battle for Sirte

2015 GMT: Niger's Minister of Justice has said that former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son Saadi entered the country on Saturday.

"He was in a convoy of nine people. They were intercepted heading in the direction of [the northern Niger town of] Agadez." Marou Adamou told a news conference. Two other convoys of Qaddafi loyalists have entered the town, which lies to the south of Libya, in the past week.

"We were not informed of their arrival," said Adamou. He said he expected the Qaddafi group to be transferred to the capital Niamey on Monday or Tuesday.

2010 GMT: A protest in Idlib in northwest Syria tonight:

Qorieh in the northeast:

Amuda in the northeast:

And a large protest in Jarjanaz in the northwest earlier today:

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: So What Does Protest Mean?

See also Libya Snapshot: The TV Producer Keeping Qaddafi on the Air
Turkey-Israel Feature: Why There is a Downward Spiral in Relations
Friday's Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Expecting Defiance, Watching for Defections

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2035 GMT: Footage of a protest in Idlib in northwest Syria tonight:

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Turkey-Israel Feature: Why There is a Downward Spiral in Relations

On Friday, the relationship between Israel and Turkey deteriorated further: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would provide an armed escort for a new flotilla to break the blockade on Gaza, while Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman proposed measures from a warning against travel to or through Turkey to support of the Kurdish insurgency PKK.

So what does the tension demonstrate? For all the differences between Israel and Turkey: it shows the two powers can agree on one thing --- playing to domestic audiences with declaration of their foreign policy interests. 

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests of Defiance --- Set 3

Bayada in Homs

Qusour in Homs

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Syria Video Special: Friday's Protests of Defiance --- Set 2

Saraqeb in Idlib Province

Khalidiya in Homs

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