Syria WikiLeaks Special: How the US Government "Supported Opposition Groups" (and for How Long?)

Craig Whitlock, writing in The Washington Post, declares, "US Secretly Backed Syrian Opposition Groups, Cables Released by WikiLeaks Show".

It is a provocative article, but it only goes so far. When you read it alongside the WikiLeaks cables that it mentions, vital questions emerge, both about the specific case of Syria and about the many cases beyond. What does this story say about the relationship --- past and present --- between the US Government and private groups? What it say about the distinction between support of "civil society" and support of movements to challenge and even topple regimes?

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Another Centre of Protest?

2045 GMT: The opposition party Wefaq has issued a statement that security forces arrived at two medical centers, Ibn Sina and al-Razi, and seized an unknown number of people.

"They detained doctors, nurses and other staff and brought them to an unknown location. We are worried what happened to them," said Wefaq politician Mattar Ibrahim Mattar. "I cannot reach by phone my brother who works in Razi."

An activist who works for the government said he saw more than a dozen members of the security forces surrounding al-Razi medical center while arrests were made inside.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Protests and Battles

2100 GMT: Developments in Syria tonight....

The Syrian Minister of Interior says protests amount to "armed insurrection" and has called on citizens to "report terrorists".

The statement comes after more than 5,000 anti-regime protesters took over the main square of Homs, Syria's third-largest city, vowing to occupy the site until President Assad steps down. More than 10,000 mourners had marched in funeral processions for some of those killed in clashes on Sunday.

A video of protest this evening:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Speech and a City Demolished

1920 GMT: Doctors say Yemeni security forces wounded at least 10 people when they fired on a protest march in Sanaa today.

About 200 more demonstrators were overcome by tear gas when they marched outside their normal protest zone in the streets near Sanaa University.

"We neared the Sanaa Trade Center when police confronted us with tear gas, and suddenly opened heavy gunfire on us from all directions," said Sabry Mohammed, a protester. "A state of terror set in among the demonstrators, and some of them fled into side streets."

1915 GMT: State TV reports that Oman plans to spend 1 billion rials ($2.6 billion) to "satisfy the demands" of protesters seeking jobs and political reforms.

Earlier this spring, up to seven people died in a series of demonstrations against the regime of Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Dozens of protesters have continued to camp in tents near the country's Shura Council in the capital Muscat.

The Sultan's office did not specify how the money would be spent.

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Syria Transcript: President Assad's Speech "Full Transparency with the Citizens"

From my meetings with sections of the population last week, I found that there is a gap which started to appear between state institutions and the Syrian citizens. This gap must be closed; and we need to find channels between ourselves and the Syrian population. These channels should work both ways. We need to broaden and strengthen these channels. And we need to fill this gap; but it should be filled with one thing which is trust, the trust of the citizens in the institutions of the state.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: How Serious is This? (Continued)

1900 GMT: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times, who has been reporting from Misurata in Libya, posts this photograph of the war-torn city:

And for comparsion, this was Misurata in August 2010:

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Syria Video: Friday's Protests

Saturday: Funeral of a Slain Protester

Burning the late President Hafez al-Assad in Al-Rastan:

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Let's Make It All About Iran

Presidents Assad and Ahmadinejad2040 GMT: Reuters reports a protest of about 300 people in the Druze city of Sweida in Syria. Police with sticks dispersed the demonstrators.

2020 GMT: An opposition fighter describes today's bombardment by regime forces of Misurata:

The port area was heavily shelled today and the destruction there is huge. I was there and saw for myself. Over 200 Grad missiles fell on the port area, including residential neighborhoods near the port. They shelled this area because the port is Misurata's only window to the outside world.

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Syria Video: The Women Protest the Arrests of the Men

Clips of today's march of women and children of the village of Baida, protesting the detention of men of the village on Tuesday:

Syria Feature: Spreading the Uprising Through Facebook and Twitter (Blanford)

Malath AumranFive years ago, Malath Aumran was a normal young Syrian man with little interest in politics and, like millions of his fellow countrymen, a passive supporter of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

But a brutal act of violence set him on a path of political activism that today has turned him into an exile hiding in Beirut. Now, surrounded by laptop computers and Internet cables, the young, technologically savvy activist is using social networking tools to help build and sustain the popular uprising that has convulsed Syria and shaken the regime in the past three weeks.

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