Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Finding the Dead in Idlib
Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 11:37 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Clashes on Saturday in AlEker in Bahrain, from police dispersing a funeral procession --- with detentions of youths and pushing of women --- to young people forcing the security forces to flee (see also 0814 GMT)
See also Syria Interview: Kurdish Leader Abdulhakim Bashar "We Demand the Right to Self-Determination"
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Exclusive in Zabadani, A Rally in the Kingdom
2200 GMT: The Arab League has put forth a political roadmap for Syria, with President Assad delegating power to a deputy and setting up a unity government as a prelude to early Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
The League called on Assad to open discussions with other groups, including the opposition, within two weeks on the intiative. The new government would be formed within two months, electing a council that will write a Constitution and prepare for the elections.
Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, that the League would ask for the enforcement of the UN Security Council.
One observer, journalist Blake Hounshell, has noted the plan is similar to the approach taken by the Gulf Co-operation Council to resolve the Yemen crisis. The GCC put forth its call to President Saleh to transfer power in spring 2011; Saleh finally agreed in November and said today that he is leaving for the US for medical treatment.