Tunisian Revolution and the Middle East--And Now, The Withdrawal From Afghanistan (M.E.T.)

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114231818133946.html

Yemen president agrees Gulf plan to resign

Aide to Ali Abdullah Saleh says leader has agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan after weeks of protests.

Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 21:07

Yemen's embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to a deal by Gulf Arab mediators that would lead to a transition of power in the country after weeks of anti-government protests.

Tariq Shami, a presidential aide, told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the president had agreed in principle to a proposal from the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) for him to step down.

The GCC plan would see Saleh submit his resignation to parliament within 30 days, with a presidential vote to be held within two months.

Shami said the opposition must first agree to the deal in order for Saleh to accept the plan.

"The president has agreed and accepted the initiative of the GCC," he said.

"The transition of power in Yemen will take some time. It needs an agreement between the national powers and the opposition at the same time. This thing will happen within 60 days if we have an agreement."

Mohammed Qahtan, an opposition spokesman, told Al Jazeera that the opposition parties also welcome the deal. He said a basis of trust is lacking for the opposition to join a national unity government, but he said the opposition would start a conversation regardless.

"The vice-president will take over for a certain period and then we will see what happens," he said.

Edited April 23, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114231492375311.html

Syrian forces raid homes to quell protests

Two MPs resign amid reported deaths of 15 people as outrage at government's response to pro-democracy protests spreads.

Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 20:55

Secret police raided homes near Damascus overnight, rights campaigners said , as popular opposition to President Bashar al Assad mounted following the bloodiest attacks on pro-democracy protesters.

Security operatives in plain clothes wielding assault rifles broke into homes in the suburb of Harasta just after midnight on Sunday, arresting activists in the area, known as the Ghouta, or the old garden district of the capital.

Security forces and gunmen loyal to Assad killed at least 112 people in the last two days when they fired at protests demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption on Friday and on mass funerals for victims a day later.

Two Syrian legislators resigned their posts in parliament as outrage grows over the security force's ongoing crackdown on anti-government protests.

[visionary]

I think it's actually like 12-13+ or so dead in Jableh now.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011424181530901869.html

Protesters killed in Syria shooting

At least nine deaths reported in coastal city of Jableh as funerals are held for victims of government crackdown.

Last Modified: 24 Apr 2011 23:03

A rights group says at least nine people have been killed in Jableh, a coastal city in Syria, where witnesses told Al Jazeera that security forces opened fire on protesters.

They said by phone from the city that some of the security men were in uniform, others in plain clothes.

Thousands of security forces accompanied by "other armed thugs" besieged Jableh and indiscriminately opened fire at civilians, Abu Ahmed, a Jableh resident, told Al Jazeera.

Citizens were "all unarmed and peaceful," and were "surprised" to see heavily armed forces, he said.

Another activist said the security forces ringed Jableh and started to open fire after a visit by a new regional governor who met local dignitaries in the mosque.

The injured from the earlier attack by security forces on residents continue to be unable to move from the Hamwi mosque, according to two activists who have spoken to those inside.

Snipers have shot at anyone attempting to leave the mosque where up to 18 injured people are trapped with little or no medical attention.

Rights groups have said that security forces have raided the house of doctor Zakraiya al-Akkad, a physician in Jableh, after he spoke with Al Jazeera about the killings in his hometown.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142421469638622.html

Mubarak to be moved to military hospital

Egypt's top prosecutor orders the transfer after medical exams showed that the ex-leader is stable enough for the move.

Last Modified: 24 Apr 2011 22:12

Egypt's prosecutor general ordered that Hosni Mubarak, the former president, be moved from his hospital in a Red Sea resort town to a military medical facility, according to prosecutor's website.

Sunday's announcement is the latest in a string of setbacks for the former strongman, who is held on suspicion of corruption and violence against protesters in the uprising that toppled him.

Mubarak was originally supposed to be moved to Cairo's Tora prison hospital, but it was deemed not yet ready to receive him, said a spokesman for Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud.

Instead the former president will stay in a military hospital until the prison facility is ready, said the spokesman in a statement posted on the prosecutor's Facebook page.

"The public prosecutor addressed the interior minister, informing him to take the necessary steps to move the former president ... to a military hospital, to implement a custody order," the statement said.

A report by a top forensic medical official said Mubarak could be moved without endangering his health, as long as he was given appropriate medical treatment.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142494657612665.html

Yemen activists vow to keep pressure on Saleh

Protesters concerned that Gulf-brokered deal's 30-day period until Saleh quits, allows him time to "change his mind".

Last Modified: 24 Apr 2011 11:19

Protesters in Yemen have reiterated their call for the immediate resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country's president, after his ruling party accepted a Gulf state-brokered plan for him to quit in 30 days.

Demonstrators expressed concern on Sunday that the plan could be a manoeuvre between the president and official opposition parties to share power.

The handover plan was drawn up by the Gulf Cooperation Council and endorsed by the official opposition coalition known as the Joint Meeting Parties.

The GCC plan would see Saleh submit his resignation to parliament within 30 days, with a presidential vote to be held within two month.

He would be granted immunity from prosecution for himself, family and aides.

But Ibrahim al-Ba'adani, an opposition activist in the city of Ibb, said he was "surprised" that the formal opposition had accepted the principle of immunity for Saleh.

"We will continue sit-ins until the president goes," he said.

In the square in Sanaa where protesters have camped out for weeks, protesters shouted: "No negotiation, no dialogue - resign or flee".

"There is still one month until the president resigns and we expect him at any moment to change his mind," said activist Mohammed Sharafi.

"We will not leave ... until Saleh goes and we achieve our goals of setting up a modern, federal state."

Scores of demonstrators demanding Saleh's overthrow have been killed in months of unrest inspired by the wave of rebellion across North Africa and the Middle East that brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt.

"There is a consensus on rejecting the initiative" proposed by the Gulf Cooperation Council, said Abdulmalik al-Yusufi, a leading activist at a sit-in demonstration in Sanaa's University Square.

"Down with the regime" and "Down with all parties," chanted the protesters, camping out in the square, dubbed Change Square.

"The Gulf initiative addresses the problem as if it was a political crisis between two parties... We have taken to the streets in a revolution that is demanding a comprehensive change," Yusufi said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/25/us-morocco-protest-idUSTRE73N13T20110425

Thousands of protesters demand "A New Morocco"

Thousands took to the streets of Morocco on Sunday in peaceful demonstrations to demand sweeping reforms and an end to political detention, the third day of mass protests since they began in February.

Desperate to avoid the turmoil that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, authorities have already announced some changes to placate demands that King Mohammed cede more powers and limit the monarchy's extensive business influence.

Some 10,000 people joined the protest in Casablanca, the largest city in one of the West's staunchest Arab allies. Marchers in the capital Rabat also denounced corruption and torture as well as unemployment, very high among youths.

Policing has been low-key for protests by the February 20 Movement, named after the date of its first march, particularly compared to the turmoil elsewhere in North Africa.

"This is more about the young ones than it is about us," said Redouane Mellouk, who had brought his 8 year-old son Mohamed Amine, carrying a placard demanding "A New Morocco."

"Our parents could not talk to us about political issues. They were too afraid. This must change," said Mellouk.

---------- Post added April-24th-2011 at 11:23 PM ----------

**** ASSHEAD murders again!

:mad:

SYRIA

http://twitter.com/#!/Mohammad_Syria

Urgent: Army with tanks are entering Daraa right now from Dahia bridge. Very heavy firing, no electricity and no mobile coverage. RT plz 20 minutes ago

Urgent: Security forces in Noimeh city begins to spread and fire randomly in all the streets and areas that are spread out Syria RT plz 19 minutes ago

Urgent: special forces stormed the city of the Noaimeh near Daraa and moving to the city of #Dara 19 minutes ago

Urgent: Tens of wounded and dead bodies in the streets of Daraa as army special forces and security forces are attacking Daraa RT plz 8 minutes ago

Eyewitness on AlJazeera: Tanks are shotting in Daraa and people are calling for help on Mosques speakers RT plz 7 minutes ago

Edited April 25, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

More on the current Daraa Massacre: (see bottom of last post first)

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

5 Martyrs in Al Mahatta Daraa so far, heavy gunfire, army using automatic weapons and tanks to attack civilians, ambulances, & homes 14 minutes ago

Tens of martyrs and injured in the streets, noone able to reach or help them 14 minutes ago

Homes converted to makeshift clinics because the army steals bodies from mosques that were once used as civilian hospitals 13 minutes ago

The attack on Daraa started at 3:30 AM on sleeping civilians 13 minutes ago

Thousands of govt forces in Daraa shooting at anything that moves, killing those who were injured, using an array of weapons 11 minutes ago

Tens of snipers on the roofs of government buildings shooting anything that resembles a human being Daraa 11 minutes ago

Gunfire continues in Daraa and emergency vehicles are prohibited from doing anything 5 minutes ago

[visionary]

http://twitter.com/#!/RulaAmin

Wall street journal is reporting that Washington is considering imposing sanctions on some Syrian officials 3 hours ago

on Jazeera an activist says officers from the syrian army have defected and are now fighting the syrian army along the residents. 13 minutes ago

Syria closes it's borders with Jordan. 3 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/#!/iyad_elbaghdadi

Massacres in Houran going down right now 10 minutes ago

Tanks rolled into Daraa this morning, heavy casualties, massacre going down 10 minutes ago

Multiple sources including live calls on AJA talk of defections from Syrian army; clashes between defected officers & special forces. 10 minutes ago

Reports that Syria-Jordan boder opposite Houran has been closed and mobile networks have been shut down in the area 10 minutes ago

20 dead reported in Daraa just today so far. 10 minutes ago

Eyewitness: Minarets of Omari mosque in Daraa shelled; regime trying to incite religious sentiment as pretext for crackdown. 3 minutes ago

Reports of dead in Daraa range between 5 and 30 so far. 3 minutes ago

Reports that two army captains and their troops have defected; ordered their troops to protect Daraa's citizens. 2 minutes ago

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-25

1:56pm The Jordanian government spokesman Taher Al Adwan confirmed the closure was carried out by the Syrian side.

However, Syria's official news agency SANA cited the director general of customs, Mustapha Bukai, as denying the border had been sealed.

All the border posts with our neighbours, including Jordan, are open. The movement of cars and goods is normal.

The Syrian government have accused Jordanians of smuggling weapons to Deraa residents when the protests in Syrian first started. Several Jordanian journalists have also been detained once they arrived in Syria to cover the events.

2:34pm The top United Nations human rights official called on Syria to rein in its security forces and investigate nearly 100 killings of protesters reported over the weekend. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay denounced the escalation of violence in the country and called for detained activists and political prisoners to be released.

The first step now is to immediately halt the use of violence, then to conduct a full and independent investigation into the killings, including the alleged killing of military and security officers, and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

3:15pm AP reports that Syria has sharply escalated its already deadly campaign to crush the uprising by sending troops backed by tanks, snipers and knife-wielding security forces into the southern city where the rebellion began. At least five people have been killed and dozens arrested, witnesses and activists said.

The offensive into Daraa was the most intense in a series of actions to put down dissent and appeared part of new strategy for pre-emptive strikes against the opposition to President Bashar Assad's regime rather than reacting to marches and protests.

3:57pm

UN calls on Syrian authorities to halt violence on protesters. Navi Pillay, the high commissioner for human rights stated in a news release.

The international community has repeatedly urged the Syrian Government to stop killing its own people, but our calls have gone unheeded

Youth throws a rock at a tank in Daraa

UqcTcCFkOxU

http://twitter.com/#!/KenRoth

US moving toward targeted sanctions on those responsible for Syria crackdown. But key is EU. http://on.wsj.com/eLCJ6A 5 hours ago

Edited April 25, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

Tens of buses full of security forces leave #Aleppo and head for Homs 2 hours ago

When tanks passed through Al Ghariya, security forces fired at protesters at the Great Mosque, resulting in 5 martyrs 2 hours ago

Shaykh Ahmed Al Sayasna asks the larger Islamic and Arab community to intervene in defense of the Syrian people 2 hours ago

Tanks of the 12th brigade in Izra'a head to Daraa 2 hours ago

The village of Nai'ma still suffering from a crippling blockade and complete blackout of what's occurring inside 2 hours ago

No buses left in the city of #Damascus 1 hour ago

Reuters: Minimum of 18 dead in Daraa 1 hour ago

Citizens of America, Canada, & Europe: Contact your media outlets & international humanitarian organizations to raise awareness for Syria 1 hour ago

Around 2000 protesters in Al Adawiya #Homs support those in #Daraa Douma #Jable and elsewhere 1 hour ago

General strike in Ayn Terma, tense environment, it appears as though people intend to go out in support of Daraa 1 hour ago

Reports of major defections in Syrian army for refusing to shoot civilians, including Kamal Ayash 2nd Commander of 1st Flank Daraa 57 minutes ago

My uncle returned safely after detained by security officers in Damascus Automatic weapons put to his head during interrogation 32 minutes ago

BBC Arabic: Several members of the army are defecting and refusing to attack unarmed civilians 31 minutes ago

To say that this is a Salafi/Islamist movement is to betray the blood of our Christian martyrs 25 minutes ago

BBC Arabic: The army entered the cities of Moadamiya and Douma, suburbs of Damascus 7 minutes ago

Gunfire heard now in Douma and security forces prepare sand barricades in every area, snipers on the Tower of Medicine 1 minute ago

http://twitter.com/#!/MalikAlAbdeh

Syria army officer in Tseel village (near Deraa) promised residents to protect them against security forces, sets up road blocks in area. 57 minutes ago

Mohamed Rifai', retired Major-General and former commander of #Syria's Fifth Division, is organising resistance to Assad forces in Deraa 38 minutes ago

Edited April 25, 2011 by visionary

[bird_1972]

...

So what do you think about what's going on, vis?

You have been posting quite regularly in this and the Qadaffi threads. Do you have a special interest in the area?

Just curious.

Edited April 25, 2011 by bird_1972

[visionary]

So what do you think about what's going on, vis?

You have been posting quite regularly in this and the Qadaffi threads. Do you have a special interest in the area?

Just curious.

I don't really have time right now to go into too much detail about my ideas on the revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

For the moment, I'll just say that I support those who seek freedom from government repression and massacre.

What's happening right now in that region is so amazing that it's almost like a dream coming true.

On the other hand, what those governments are doing to their people in response is like a horrible nightmare.

I want to do what I can to help these people out.

So I'm just trying to do my best to make sure that others know what's going on out there.

I hope my posts aren't bothering anyone. (I'm always open to criticism)

[bird_1972]

I don't really have time right now to go into too much detail about my ideas on the revolutions in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

For the moment, I'll just say that I support those who seek freedom from government repression and massacre.

What's happening right now in that region is so amazing that it's almost like a dream coming true.

On the other hand, what those governments are doing to their people in response is like a horrible nightmare.

I want to do what I can to help these people out.

So I'm just trying to do my best to make sure that others know what's going on out there.

I hope my posts aren't bothering anyone. (I'm always open to criticism)

Not at all ... was just curious.

Glad to see someone maintaining the passion about it. Seeing Libya, Bahrain, and Syria crush their own people is as disheartening as seeing the Tunisians and Egyptians succeed was invigorating.

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142523156122610.html

Yemen's opposition has agreed to take part in a transitional government under a Gulf-negotiated peace plan for embattled leader Ali Abdullah Saleh to step aside in a month in exchange for immunity for him and his family.

A spokesman for an opposition coalition said on Monday that his group had received assurances in order to accept the deal.

"We have given our final accord to the [Gulf] initiative after having received assurances from our brothers and American and European friends on our objections to certain clauses in the plan," Mohammed Qahtan said.

He added that the Common Front, a Yemeni parliamentary opposition coalition, had notified Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) secretary-general Abdullatif al-Zayani of the decision.

But many pro-democracy protesters, who are not members of the coalition that agreed to the peace talks, appear to be unconvinced by the Gulf-proposed deal and have called for fresh demonstrations, as security forces continued their crackdown.

Yemen's Western and Gulf Arab allies have tried to mediate a solution to a three-month crisis in which protesters, inspired by revolts against autocratic regimes in Egypt and Tunisia, have demonstrated relentlessly for the end of Saleh's 32-year-long rule.

As opposition leaders met in Sanaa to discuss the plan, Yemeni forces killed at least two protesters at separate rallies outside the capital, witnesses said.

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-26

9:05pm AP reports that the European countries have urged the UN Security Council to strongly condemn Syrian violence against protesters

9:25pm Reuters reports that a leading human rights campaigner said security forces, which also swept into the restive Damascus suburbs of Douma and Mouadhamiya, shooting and making arrests, were waging "a savage war designed to annihilate Syria's democrats".

1:01am A resident of Daraa just spoke to Al Jazeera (we did not name him due to security reasons) Here's what he said before the line went dead:

The situation in Daraa is a true massacre. ... people are in the streets, children, women, older people, youths ..."

2:07am Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from Damascus, said activists are worried that Monday's violent crackdowns will mean that protesters will be too terrified to protest further, and will choose to stay home instead:

Initially, the protesters had been saying that they were not going to stop midway, that they were going to take it to the end until all their demands are met and this country becomes a democratic country. However even the activists in the capital, Damascus, acknowledge there harsh measures will keep some people at home and won't take them to the streets.

The protesters were hoping to make this a snowball, to bring more people onto the streets every week. And with these harsh measures, they are concerned that those who have stayed home so far will (continue to) stay home.

I saw some rumors earlier on twitter that the president's brother Maher Assad, was wounded in clashes with defected army units in Daraa. I'll check to see if there's more info on that, or if it was just a random rumor/wishful thinking.

[visionary]

I haven't heard any more news about Bashar Assad's brother being injured.

I have seen a lot of people reporting the rumor, but no more details or confirmation.

Apparently Maher is leading the special forces brigade that is deployed in Daraa right now though.

They are supposed to be the best trained, armed, and most brutal brigade in the Syrian army.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-26

4:33am Reuters reports that according to rights group Sawasiah, Syrian security forces have "arrested 500 pro-democracy sympathisers" across the country. after the government sent in tanks to try to crush protests in the city of Daraa

The independent organisation said it had received reports that at least 20 people had been killed in Daraa since tanks moved in on Monday, but communications with the southern town where the protests against President Bashar al-Assad began on March 18 had been cut making it hard to confirm the information.

"Witnesses managed to tell us that at least 20 civilians have been killed in Daraa, but we do not have their names and we cannot verify," said a Sawasiah official, adding that two civilians were confirmed dead in the Damascus suburb of Douma, which forces entered earlier in the day.

At least 500 were arrested elsewhere in Syria, it said.

5:13am Reuters reports that the US state deparment has ordered all eligible US embassy dependents and some non-essential staff to leave Syria.

5:30am News of the violent crackdowns in Daraa is galvanising anti-government sentiment in other towns, such as Jasim, where protestors in the town square watched images of Monday's killings on a large screen in the town square and shouted anti- government slogans.

On a giant screen, they watch images from Monday's violence in the nearby town

Khadija Magardie reports on the struggle inside Syria:

WGj6p6f2418

The US is supposedly hoping to time any sanctions they may put on Syria with a like-minded effort by Europe. They don't think US sanctions would have too much of an effect on Syria on their own, but hope that they can persuade the European Union to apply pressure as well.

(I heard this on the news a lot today )

I wonder if sanctions might be more effective if placed on his wife, as she was born and grew up on London, and spent a lot of time in Europe and New York later.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011425194315350324.html

Obama administration mulls Syria sanctions

Assets of senior officials could be frozen and their businesses banned in US in order to ratchet up pressure on Assad.

Last Modified: 25 Apr 2011 21:40

The measures, which could freeze those officials' assets and ban them from doing business in the United States, would likely come in the form of an executive order signed by Barack Obama, the US president, the official said.

But a final decision has yet to be made on the exact timing of such a move and there was no immediate word on whether Assad might be among those targeted for sanctions.

Meanwhile, four European nations are urging the UN Security Council to strongly condemn the violence against peaceful demonstrators in Syria.

A council diplomat said France, Britain, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft media statement to the other council members.

It will be discussed at a council meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the consultations have been private.

The draft statement supports secretary-general Ban Ki-moon's call for an independent and transparent investigation into the killings in Syria, where more than 300 people have died in five weeks of unrest, the diplomat said.

---------- Post added April-26th-2011 at 12:43 AM ----------

http://twitter.com/#!/EimanAbdel

National candlelight vigils for Syria this Thursday. Chicago, NYC, Detroit, Arizona, Florida, D.C. http://t.co/oxMyxga @monaeltahawy 51 minutes ago

Edited April 26, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-tanks-20110426,0,7038908.story

Obama administration officials said they are readying orders that would freeze U.S. assets of senior Syrian officials and deny them permission to travel in the United States.

U.S. sanctions are unlikely to produce a dramatic effect because Syrian officials apparently own few U.S. assets. But the move signaled a notable shift by the Obama administration, which has worked hard to build better relations with Damascus, a regime it considers a strategic key for security in the Middle East.

European officials said they also are considering steps against Assad's regime. Syrian officials maintain far larger investments in Europe than in the U.S., so economic sanctions or travel bans there would have a more direct effect.

The Obama administration hopes U.S. sanctions will help build pressure on its European allies, especially France and Britain, to follow suit. Officials in Washington have consulted closely with counterparts in London and Paris on how best to persuade Assad to show restraint.

Moves by British and French officials against Syria could be particularly important. France, the former colonial power, retains strong cultural and economic relations with Damascus. Assad lived for a number of years in Britain and may have financial assets there.

Several military officers in Dara province told The Times that they had orders to shoot any protester, adding that many soldiers were afraid to resist and that failing to carry out orders was tantamount to a death sentence.

"We have orders to open fire," said one of the officers, speaking on condition of anonymity because of concerns for his safety. "We are afraid to carry them out because there will be more killing. But if we don't, someone will kill us."

Syrian activists in touch with witnesses in Dara reported that at least five military officers, including two with the rank of captain, and nine soldiers refused to carry out orders.

Edited April 26, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://twitter.com/#!/SyriansHand

Deraa resident to BBC: Let Obama come & take #Syria, let Israel come & take Syria, let the Jews come, anything is better than Al-Assad 32 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/#!/RulaAmin

Just got through to a contact in #Daraa, he says situation is very bad, firing has not stopped since yesterday 5 am in the morning, 29 minutes ago

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-26

9:38am Human rights groups and a growing number of governments are working to prevent Syria from being elected to the UN's top human rights body, as President Bashar Assad's security forces crack down on pro-democracy protesters.

Syria's election to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council is all but assured as one of four candidates selected to fill four Asian seats unless another candidate enters the race or Syria fails to win a majority of votes in the May 20 election in the 192-member General Assembly.

Repeated attempts to reach Syria's UN ambassador for comment were unsuccessful.

11:35am Video below puports to show the city of Deraa just a day after 20 people were killed, according to Syrian rights organisation Sawasiah, in raids by troops loyal to Assad on Monday.

Communications have been cut in the city, making it difficult to confirm the information

11:00am The United States says it is planning to increase pressure on Bashar al-Assad's government.

That includes targeted sanctions against the president, his family and inner circle.

The US has also ordered some of its embassy officials and their families to leave Syria because of what it calls the "uncertainty and volatility" in the country.

Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane has more on Washington's response:

a5Sdh7yTMEk

11:23am Britain said it was working with its international partners on possible further measures against Syria and called on Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to stop attacks on anti-goverment protesters.

"The United Kingdom is working intensively with our international partners to persuade the Syrian authorities to stop the violence and respect basic and universal human rights to freedoms of expression and assembly," William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, said.

"This includes working with our partners on the United Nations Security Council to send a strong signal to the Syrian authorities that the eyes of the international community are on Syria, and with our partners in the European Union and the region on possible further measures."

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

1 hour ago- Heavy shelling of Al Na'ima, village on the outskirts of Daraa, and use of heavy automatic weapons 13 minutes ago

Those in Jordan call on King Abdallah II to extend cell phone coverage and return it to the way it was 12 minutes ago

Thousands protesting in Tal Thahab supporting Daraa Douma and Jable

11 minutes ago

Edited April 26, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-26

1:38pm A resident of Deraa, who we are not naming for security reasons, described to Al Jazeera, through a translator, a desperate situation on the ground in the restive southern city.

Listen to his account below:

aug5EbWpXo4

1:41pm Jableh, the coastal city that came under attack by secret police and armed thugs on Sunday, remains in military lockdown, with checkpoints on every road and snipers on rooftops, according to two witnesses.

One witness said on the 200 metre long Misbah Street, scene of the main protests, five checkpoints had been set up manned by soldiers and secret police with only the pro-regime armed thugs allowed to walk between them.

The witness said residents were being forced to stay indoors.

A second witness who was inside the Hamwi mosque, which was under siege on Sunday, told Al Jazeera one of the wounded protestors being cared for in the mosque, Hassan Sankari, has since bled to death after being unable to leave due to snipers firing from roof tops.

2:10pm Around 300 protesters are currently holding a demonstration outside the Syrian embassy in the Egyptian capital Cairo, calling for the downfall of the regime.

]

“The people want to topple the regime,” chanted the crowd of Syrians, Egyptians and Lebanese. “The Syrian people are together in one hand,” they are shouting, and: “Where are the Egyptian people, where are the Arabic people?”[/size

The protestors are holding signs in Arabic and Kurdish saying “Down with Baath regime”.

Initial efforts by embassy security guards to push back the crowd failed, as did attempts to deafen the protestors with music from loudspeakers.

This is the third and largest demonstration in Cairo against the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown on protesters.

2:30pm The Arab League has condemned the use of force against pro-democracy protesters in several Arab countries, saying they "deserve support, not bullets".

In a rare statement on the unrest sweeping across the Middle East, the 22-member Arab League said it would ask foreign ministers to discuss this "serious situation" during a meeting scheduled for next month.

"The people's demands for freedom and democracy are demands that require support ... not bullets in the chests of demonstrators," the Arab League said in the statement, received by the Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

"We call on Arab regimes and governments to commit to and speed up reforms, immediately stop using force against demonstrators and spare their citizens bloodshed."

The statement did not single out any Arab country but said the uprisings that toppled autocratic rulers in Tunisia and Egypt and protests in Syria, Libya and Yemen "point to a new Arab era ... led by youths seeking a better present and a brighter future".

The statement said Arab foreign ministers would meet in Cairo next month to discuss the unrest, but gave no exact date. Egypt's state news agency MENA said the meeting would be held on May 8.

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

More than 1000 Egyptian protesters in front of the Syrian embassy in Cairo, this is the brotherhood of our revolution! 2 hours ago

Al Jazeera: French Foreign Ministry- Paris calls for firm action from the European Union and the UN towards Syria 2 hours ago

Edited April 26, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://twitter.com/#!/rhijazi

AJA reports 453 killed and 1700 injured in Syria since start of the revolution 22 minutes ago

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-27

Protesters in Baniyas on Tuesday chanting "the people want the overthrow of the regime" [Reuters]

02:48am Syria's ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja'afari said violence by the demonstrators and "some armed groups" taking advantage of the situation had forced authorities to respond with force.

They [some armed groups] get within the demonstrations and started shooting on the military men and the security forces. This is why there were many casualties.

Ja'afari said Syria can "undertake any investigation by our own selves, with full transparency".

We have nothing to hide. We regret what's going on, but you should also acknowledge the fact that this unrest and riots in some of their aspects have hidden agendas.

If you demonstrate peacefully, you are protected by the government. If you recur to violence then any government in the world, in order to maintain peace and order, would utilise its forces to stop violence and vandalism and aggression against buildings as well as against innocent civilians.

06:10am At least 35 people have been reportedly killed after Syria bolstered its troops on Tuesday in the flashpoint town of Deraa just south of the capital, Damascus.

Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah said security forces have killed nearly three dozen civilians since they entered Deraa at dawn on Monday.

Rights activist Abdullah Abazid said he had a list of names of six people, including the imam of a mosque, who were shot dead by security forces in Deraa.

09:20am Troops have been deployed overnight in a suburb of the Syrian capital, Damascus, witnesses say.

White buses brought in hundreds of soldiers in full combat gear into Douma, a witness told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

Pro-democracy protesters have tried to march from the suburb into the centre of the capital in the last two weeks but have been dispersed by security forces.

1:40pm The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday it had collected the names of at least 453 civilians killed during almost six weeks of pro-democracy protests in Syria.

Asked who killed them, Observatory director Rami Abdelrahman said: "It does not require a comment. The names we have are from Deraa, Damascus, rural Damascus and the coast."

06:07am France and Italy have called for an end to the violence in Syria, urging tough penalties for state security forces' actions against citizens. Meanwhile Britain has called for international sanctions if Assad does not start implementing reforms.

11:18am US senator John McCain spoke to Al Jazeera's Tony Harris during a visit to Doha, Qatar's capital, about the growing unrest in Syria.

In the interview, McCain said US options in Syria "are limited", but stressed that he advocates the use of the "most severe sanctions possible, of every conceivable kind, including individual sanctions".

He then went on to say: "These people deserve moral support in Syria who are literally dying as we speak"

1:48pm Germany is in favour of European Union sanctions against Syria's leadership, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Wednesday.

"The possibility of enacting EU sanctions against the Syrian leadership will be examined, we will strongly support such sanctions," he told a regular news conference.

2:03pm European Union governments will discuss the possibility of imposing sanctions against Syria on Friday, with various measures being explored, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Wednesday.

"There will be a meeting on Friday ... All options are on the table," Michael Mann, the foreign affairs spokesman, told reporters at a European Commission briefing.

Germany said earlier on Wednesday it was in favour of sanctions against Syria following the violent crackdown on protesters, in which an estimated 400 people have been killed.

If agreed, EU sanctions would likely start with asset freezes and travel restrictions against key officials, diplomats have said.

-The United Nations Security Council is set to discuss the government crackdown on protesters again, later on Wednesday.

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

CNN Eyewitness from Daraa: 35 tanks, snipers on roofs of buildings, people can't leave homes, can't bury martyrs, bodies in trucks 8 hours ago

The army has defected and joined the protesters in #Daraa #Syria http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WqwsBEVKAc&feature=player_embedded

33 minutes ago

Al Arabiya- The 5th brigade defending the people in #Daraa and fighting against the 4th brigade 30 minutes ago

Security forces kill truck driver from Maslama family for refusing to act out the farce they're playing on Syrian news networks 25 minutes ago

Suffocating siege on Jable continues, snipers dispersed in streets shoot at anything that moves, families stay in homes 23 minutes ago

Martyrs of Jable, killed 3 days ago, remain unburied due to snipers and security forces shooting those who leave their homes 22 minutes ago

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/20114274815152261.html

Syrian opposition vows to 'break the regime'

Activists say democratic transition will safeguard the country from "a period of violence, chaos and civil war".

Last Modified: 27 Apr 2011 12:04

Syrian opposition figures have said their "massive grassroots revolution" will break the regime unless Bashar al-Assad, the president, leads a transition to democracy.

The statement on Wednesday from an umbrella group of opposition activists in Syria and abroad, called the National Initiative for Change, said a democratic transition will "safeguard the nation from falling into a period of violence, chaos and civil war."

"If the Syrian president does not wish to be recorded in history as a leader of this transition period, there is no alternative left for Syrians except to move forward along the same path as did the Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans before them," the statement said.

The opposition in Syria is getting more organised as anti-government protests gain strength, but it is still fragmented.

Meanwhile, witnesses said a convoy of about 30 tanks were seen on the Damascus circular highway outside the capital.

Witnesses also said troops had poured into the Damascus suburb of Douma overnight and were also deployed around the coastal city of Baniyas.

White buses brought in hundreds of soldiers in full combat gear into Douma, a witness told Reuters news agency. Pro-democracy protesters have tried to march from the suburb into the centre of the capital in the last two weeks but have been dispersed by security forces.

More than 2,000 security police deployed in Douma on Tuesday, manning checkpoints and checking identity cards to arrest pro-democracy sympathisers, the witness, a former soldier, said.

He said he saw several lorries in the streets equipped with heavy machine guns and members of the plainclothes secret police carrying assault rifles. He believed the soldiers to be Republican Guards, among the units most loyal to Bashar al-Assad, the president.

Edited April 27, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://twitter.com/#!/LeShaque

Witness from Daraa: A women's demonstration appealed to the army to protect the civilians. They despersed it. 1 hour ago

AlArabiya via AFP / breaking: 30 members of the Baath Party in Banias have resigned in protest at "security behavior." 16 minutes ago

Daraa resident who fled to Jordan to BBC-A: They are collecting the corpses in freezer trucks. 1 hour ago

AlArabiya: Maher Assad to top US targeted sanctions list. 37 minutes ago

Confirmed by contact: Tanks withdraw from city center to its outskirts. 36 minutes ago

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-27

4:38pm Five European Union countries are summoning Syria's respective ambassadors to protest against the violence, while EU envoys are to meet in Brussels on Friday to discuss imposing sanctions on Damascus.

The United States led a call for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Syria which will also take place on Friday, a UN spokesman said in Geneva. The request was backed by 10 European states, as well as Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Senegal and Zambia.

Germany, which called the Brussels meeting, said it would strongly back EU sanctions against Syria. Steffen Seibert, a Government spokesman, told a regular media briefing that Berlin condemned "severe human rights violations" by Syrian forces.

Seibert said measures could include restricting the travel of top Syrian officials and seizing their assets, as well as cutting off economic assistance from the EU.

5:25pm Al Jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from the Jordanian border with Syria, says there is a heavy presence of Jordanian security forces on border near the Syrian town of Deraa. The border crossing remains sealed by the Syrian authorities.

PALESTINE

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011427152119845721.html

Fatah and Hamas sign reconciliation deal

Palestinian factions agree in Cairo to form interim government and fixing general election date.

Last Modified: 27 Apr 2011 15:29

Fatah, the Palestinian political organisation, has reached an agreement with its rival Hamas on forming an interim government and fixing a date for general election, Egyptian intelligence say.

"The consultations resulted in full understandings over all points of discussions, including setting up an interim agreement with specific tasks and to set a date for election," Egyptian intelligence said in a statement on Wednesday.

Edited April 27, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-27

6:43pm A call for justice by a resident of Baniyas:

GCCRJidhfTM

9:13pm Al jazeera's Nisreen El-Shamayleh, reporting from Ramtha on Jordanian border with Syria, says two Jordanians have been confirmed dead in nearby Deraa:

Their bodies have yet to arrive to Jordan. Ramtha residents said the bodies being held inside one of the mosques. The vast majority of Ramtha residents live off of business at the border crossing, which remains sealed by Syrian authorities.

The residents also said the border closure is likely to affect Jordan at large because all Syrian goods arrive from Deraa and Ramtha traders are responsible for distributing them to all Jordanian towns and Amman.

Most importantly, people are concerned about their relatives...due to the large number of Syrian-Jordanian marriages.

9:24pm The Syrian army is being deployed in ever greater numbers to crackdown on its own people. Tanks are patrolling the southern city of Deraa where the uprising erupted six weeks ago.

Hundreds of troops in full combat gear have poured into Douma, a suburb of the capital Damascus. And on the coast, the city of Baniyas has been surrounded by troops. Al Jazeera's Gerald Tan reports:

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Disgusting. They can't even agree on a statement? :mad:

10:57pm The 15-nation UN Security Council failed to agree a statement aiming to condemn the killing of Syrian protesters, diplomats said.

Nice.

11:08pm Another 203 members of Syria's ruling Baath party announced their resignation Wednesday in protest at the deadly crackdown on protesters, raising the number to 233, according to lists seen by AFP.

The latest group to step down were members from the Houran region, which covers the flashpoint town of Deraa in the south of the country, France24 reports. Earlier 30 members resigned from the restive city of Banias in northwest Syria.

"The security services have demolished the values with which grew up. We denounce and condemn everything that has taken place and announce with regret our resignation from the party," they said in a signed statement.

YEMEN

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011427165543907230.html

Protesters killed in Yemen shooting

Deaths come as president's opponents launch campaign against a plan giving him one-month window to resign.

Last Modified: 27 Apr 2011 18:04

At least nine protesters have been killed in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after security forces opened fire on a demonstration demanding immediate exit of the president, hospital officials say.

Separately on Wednesday, troops reportedly shot dead three protesters and wounded others in a gunfight in Aden.

Residents in at least 18 cities and towns across the country launched a civil disobedience campaign on Wednesday protesting against a plan which would give Ali Abdullah Saleh a month-long window to resign.

The opposition bloc agreed Tuesday to take part in a transitional government under the Gulf-negotiated deal, which gave Saleh immunity for him and his family.

That's at least 12 dead on Wednesday across Yemen.

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-28

02:31am The UN Security Council failed to agree on a draft statement condemning Syria's deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters. The 15-member council was deeply divided over the wording in the draft.

There was a breakdown in discussions, with the respective envoys using strong language to make their case or oppose the move.

Russian envoy Alexander Pankin said "a real threat could arise from outside interference or taking of sides", adding that such a move could lead to civil war in Syria.

Lebanese envoy Nawaf Salam said the "hearts and minds" of the Lebanese were with the Syrians.

US envoy Susan Rice accused Syria of "casting blame on outsiders" instead of responding to legitimate calls for reforms from Syrians, adding that Iran was backing the Syrian government's crackdown using "the same brutal tactics" it did against its own people.

UN political chief B. Lynn Pascoe made the case for the statement by saying reports by the "media, international human rights groups, UN agencies and diplomatic missions confirm that the overwhelming majority of protests have been peaceful and unarmed".

Syrian envoy Bashar Ja'afari welcomed the council's inaction and questioned the "unprecedented enthusiasm" by some members pushing for the statement. He added:

Some of the statements we heard today can only be considered an encouragement to extremism and terrorism.

French envoy Gerard Araud dismissed Ja'afari's allegation, saying:

Every dictatorship facing opposition usually says there is foreign involvement. So it's not new.

04:32am More than 200 members of Syria's ruling Baath party from Deraa province have quit in protest at the government crackdown on peaceful protesters. President Assad is facing dissent amid signs of discontent within the army. Residents and opposition members have said that some soldiers had refused to fire on civilians.

An unnamed senior diplomat said:

The largest funerals in Syria so far have been for soldiers who have refused to obey orders to shoot protesters and were summarily executed on the spot.

Another diplomat said:

No one is saying that Assad is about to lose control of the army, but once you start using the army to slaughter your own people, it is a sign of weakness.

The banner reads: "Not Salafism nor Brotherhood, my religion is Freedom" [Reuters]

Protesters holding placards in Douma as seen in a handout photo on Wednesday [Reuters]

Edited April 28, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

And now Bahrain is officially Iran...thanks to the Bahrainian government and our lack of support for the protesters.

They already arrested tons of people in the night and beat to death and shot others.

They also had people die in jail for weird medical reasons that were clearly coverups for death by torture or beating.

And now they're going to execute 4 protesters and make 3 other protesters spend the rest of their life in prison for supposedly killing a 2 police.

Never mind all the police, secret security, and others who murdered and beat protesters.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142881322769709.html

Bahrain sentences protesters to death

Military court sentences four men to death over killing of police during unrest, state media says.

Last Modified: 28 Apr 2011 11:37

A Bahraini military court has sentenced four Shia protesters to death and three to life jail terms for the killing of two policemen during demonstrations last month, state media has reported.

Thursday's verdicts are the first related to the uprising against the Gulf kingdom's ruling family, which begain in February.

The seven defendants were tried behind closed doors on charges of premeditated murder of government employees, which their lawyers have denied.

A Shia opposition official named those sentenced to death as Ali Abdullah Hasan, Qasim Hassan Mattar, Saeed Abdul Jalil Saeed, and Abdul Aziz Abdullah Ibrahim.

He told the AFP news agency that Issa Abdullah Kazem, Sadiq Ali Mahdi, and Hussein Jaafar Abdul Karim were sentenced to life in prison.

Sheikh Ali Salman, president of Bahrain's Al Wefaq, the largest Shia political group in the country, told Al Jazeera that the punishments did not fit the crime.

"I believe that these sentences should be revised and the international community must intervene to stop this," he said.

He added that the proceedings were "unprecedented" and that question marks remain over the conditions the detainees are living in.

Government officials have said that a total of four policemen were killed during the unrest that gripped the country in February and March, at least three of whom were run over by cars around March 16.

Hundreds of thousands of Bahrain's Shia-led opposition have called for greater rights and freedoms in the Sunni monarchy.

Authorities have detained hundreds since martial law was declared last month to quell dissent.

On Wednesday, a Bahraini official said 405 detainees had been referred to military courts while 312 have been released.

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-28

6:41pm Amnesty International calls on the Syrian authorities to allow observers from the organisation to visit the country.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Neil Sammonds, a researcher on Syria for Amnesty International, pointed out that thugs are working as a paramilitary organisation working for the state, ruling out that protesters are carrying out violence as Syrian security forces are taking control over the country.

6:44pm A Facebook group has called for protests on Friday against president Bashar al-Assad's regime and in solidarity with the southern town of Deraa, where troops and tanks have taken over the streets.

"Friday of Anger, April 29, in solidarity with Deraa," says a notice on the Syrian Revolution 2011 page of Facebook, a motor of the protests in which demonstrators inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world are seeking greater freedoms.

"To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets ... we will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Deraa," said the statement posted online on Thursday.

7:05pm Some insight into the grim situation in Deraa: Sources of Al Jazeera say at least 50 people have been killed there since Monday. People are not able to move outside their homes as snipers shoot everything that moves.

Residents of Deraa do not have electricity, water or medicine. The main hospital of the town has been taken by security forces, our sources say.

Only a few officers and soldiers have refused to shoot at civilians and defended them. Reports that whole section of the army have split up are incorrect, according to our sources. They are individual cases, around 20 officers who came between the people and security forces to defend the people.

Residents still have food but started to lack bread and milk for young children. At least one person in Deraa died as he was unable to get dialysis for his kidneys as they are not allowed in hospitals.

7:17pm More amateur video released by Sham News allegedly showing protesters in Homs:

DuWHJllm36w

9:07pm The main land crossing between Syria and Jordan reopened on Thursday.

A senior diplomat in the Jordanian capital confirmed that the two main Syrian crossings at Deraa and Nassib on the Syrian side were closed to traffic. On Thursday the crossing point nearest to Deraa was closed, with cars, approaching from the Jordanian side, turning back.

The main Nassib-Jaber crossing point however, linking the two country's capitals, Amman and Damascus, was open. A local crossing point linking Ar Ramtha in Jordan with Deraa in Syria remained closed.

11:04pm Sources of Al Jazeera confirmed that approximately 1.000 Syrians crossed the border into Lebanon today (80 per cent of them did not cross via the official border).

The Lebanese-syrian border is porous and in many areas not demarcated, however, there are reports that the Lebanese army beefed up their presence in the area.

They migrants escaped the fighting in the Syrian town of Tel Kalah near the border. Reports say there were clashes between Syrian security forces and local residents.

11:16pm

Here are some photos we received from an activist - we are told they are from Nawa, a city 20km north of Deraa yesterday (27/4). Al Jazeera cannot verify their authenticity.

Some of the signs read the name of Nawa on them. Others read: "80,000 people are under siege for five days, No water, no food, no electricity, no communications" and "No water, no medicine, no food":

Edited April 28, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/04/27/kuwait.royal.change/

Washington (CNN) -- Sheikh Fahad Al Salem is a royal member of Kuwait's wealthy ruling family. It's a posh life that affords him an entourage and a sprawling five-star hotel suite during his recent visit to Washington.

But Sheikh Fahad is preaching an unpopular message of democratic reforms and anti-corruption, and he started by pointing his finger at his own country.

"You get more credibility if you begin with your own house, inside your own house," he said during an interview with CNN.

"Nobody can tell me now, why do you say this to us? I say it in my own house. I say it in my own country. I say it in my own family. So if I say this in my own family, that means I will not hesitate to say it outside."

Sheikh Fahad's tough message, in the wake of a wave of demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa, was crystal clear through his thick accent.

"When people go to the streets, then nobody can stop them," he said.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/416758

Egypt backs Syrian regime, receives sharp criticism

Egypt is backing Syrian diplomatic efforts to block a Western-supported UN resolution condemning Damascus’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, a human rights advocate said on Thursday.

“Egypt has introduced amendments to a proposed UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution, according to which the council should not condemn the bloody governmental crackdown on peaceful protesters in Syria,” said Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian human rights activist, via telephone from Geneva.

:mad:

Edited April 28, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-29

12:05am This YouTube video, published by Sham News, an opposition outlet, allegedly shows a candle light vigil in the Damascus suburb Darraya. The procession is being held in solidarity with the people of Deraa. Al Jazeera cannot verify the authenticity of this video:

OYgrU_K8X8k

HrFAhxC6-gY

2:56am Rights activists have reported shooting and arrests in Zabadani, about 35km southwest of Damascus, on Thursday. The group Sawasiah said the number of deaths in six weeks of anti-government protests had risen to at least 500.

We call on civilised governments to take action to stop the bloodbath in Syria and to rein in the Syrian regime and halt its murders, torture, sieges and arrests.

We have the names of at least 500 confirmed killed. The shelling of Deraa is a crime against humanity.

5:49am The US has sought condemnation of the Syrian government's crackdown on protests at a UN Human Rights Council special session on Syria on Friday.

In a draft resolution the US called for the 47-member council to agree to "urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry ... to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law" in Syria.

Morocco

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/2011428112155783843.html

Deadly blast devastates Marrakesh cafe

Authorities suspect that a suicide bomber was behind the explosion that killed 14 people in Moroccan city's main square.

Last Modified: 28 Apr 2011 11:28

An explosion in a busy cafe in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh has killed at least 11 foreigners and three Moroccans and wounded several others, according to Taib Cherkaoui, Morocco's interior minister.

The blast on Thursday just before noon in the iconic Jamaa el-Fna square, a cultural heritage site that draws a million tourists a year, was Morocco's deadliest attack in eight years.

Medical sources said eight of those who died in the blast were French, while a Dutch defence ministry official told AFP on Friday that a Dutch man died and two other nationals were seriously wounded in the attack.

Moroccan officials said on Thursday that they suspect the attack was the work of a suicide bomber.

"According to the information I have, it could have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber," an official in the regional governor's office told the AFP news agency.

"We found nails in one of the bodies," added the official, who was in a hospital where some of the bodies were taken.

Rescuers were dispatched to the scene and an investigation was opened to provide details on the blast.

An official from the interior ministry said the blast appeared to be a terror attack, though the ministry had said earlier in the day, in a statement carried by the official MAP news agency, that "early evidence collected at the site (of the explosion) indicates that it was a criminal act".

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142993412242172.html

Deaths are reported in Syria where the government has once again sent army units onto the streets of several cities, including Damascus, as protesters rally in solidarity with victims of a weeks-long crackdown.

Friday brought the largest anti-regime protest in the Syrian capital since protests against president Bashar al-Assad's decade-long rule began last month.

Gunfire was reported in Damascus and in the coastal city of Latakia, with witnesses claiming that security forces have fired on protesters, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Clashes are occurred in the southern city of Deraa where more than 100 protesters were killed a week ago. The AFP news agency says seven civilians have been killed while Syria's state news agency says four security force members died when an "armed terrorist group" stormed an army checkpoint.

In Damascus, an estimated 15,000 protesters, many calling for the toppling of the regime, joined forces to march through the conservative Sunni neighbourhood of Midan, according to separate eyewitness accounts.

After the protesters had dispersed, a small pro-government demonstration took place with demonstrators carrying sticks and chanting: “With our soul and blood, we sacrifice to you Bashar."

Anti-government activists had called for protests following Friday prayers to commemorate the killings of over 100 protesters last Friday. The unrest is the greatest challenge to the country's ruling Baath Party since it seized power in 1963.

Al Jazeera correspondent Rula Amin, reporting from Damascus, said Friday's slogan is "solidarity for Deraa" - the southern city that has borne the brunt of a crackdown by Syrian security forces.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-29

Wow!

10:44am "Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad needs to hear an unequivocal message from the Human Rights Council that violent suppression of peaceful protests is unacceptable and will have consequences," Julie de Rivero, Geneva, the director at Human Rights Watch, said.

“An international investigation into the Syria crackdown should help deter further violence.”

“Governments should tell Syria in no uncertain terms that its rampant abuses disqualify it from membership on the Human Rights Council,” de Rivero said. “Syria’s election bid discredits all those who support it, as well as the council itself.”

10:45am Speaking to Al Jazeera last night from an area of Deraa with limited phone signal, a resident said he believed the Fifth Division of the army had clashed with the Fourth Division, led by President Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad.

"The Fifth Division has opened fire on the Fourth Division and I’ve heard reports that the major general leading the Fifth Division has been killed and that four sergeants have taken charge," he said.

The information was impossible to verify and none of the other numbers Al Jazeera has to sources inside Deraa could be reached at the time.

"The tanks are being brought to Deraa for the Fourth Division to fight against the Fifth Division."

Four people had been killed yesterday after the Omari Mosque, a focus for the Deraa uprising, had come under tank fire, he said, while 46 residents of the city had been killed since Monday and residents were now documenting the names.

The Deraa resident said the city continued to have little or no running water, no electricity and no communication with the outside, with all mobile and landline phone services remaining cut.

"The military has stopped flour entering Deraa and confiscated all the flour from the bakeries, and we're out of gas," he said.

"We’re getting some bread from Jordan on the backs of animals. We’re keeping the dead bodies in refrigerated lorries."

Some Syrian families, mainly women and children, had managed to escape the siege and had crossed the border into Jordan yesterday through illegal crossing points, he said.

"We are calling out for help from the UN and all human rights organisations," he said. "We are spending the nights by candlelight. Water tanks have been bombed as have schools around the main square."

12:23pm The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said for the first time that a target destroyed by Israeli warplanes in the Syrian desert in 2007 was a covert site of a future nuclear reactor.

2:19pm Thousands of Syrians take to the streets in the coastal town of Baniyas chanting anti-government slogans, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

2:20pm Tens of thousands of Syrians demonstrated in urban centres in solidarity with the besieged city of Deraa and demanding political freedoms, in defiance of heavy army and security forces deployment.

Demonstrations erupted in at least one Damascus suburb, the central city of Homs and the coastal town of Baniyas as well as in eastern Syria.

Two small protests also started in central Damascus, witnesses, an opposition leader and a human rights group said.

2:23pm A witness says Syrian security forces have opened fire on a demonstration in the coastal city of Latakia, wounding at least five people.

The witness said about 1,000 people were holding an anti-government rally in the coastal city when plainclothes security agents with automatic rifles opened fire.

Syrian soldiers also fired shots in the air in the southern city of Deraa, a resident said.

"They will open fire [on you] if you leave your house," the resident told Reuters by telephone.

2:44pm Video of ‘Day of Anger’ demonstrations in Homs:

JfQ9yjmAKxc

2:52pm Demonstrations have started in Qamishli and Amoda.

Video below is of protesters in Deir al-Zour chanting:

"There is no fear, to Paradise we are going, Martyrs in millions. The Syria people is one, God, Syria, and freedom only."

tNebNa03Kxc

---------- Post added April-29th-2011 at 11:47 AM ----------

http://twitter.com/#!/BreakingNews

Hospital near Deraa has received 15 bullet-riddled bodies of villagers killed by Syrian security forces http://bit.ly/jJGtm5 10 minutes ago

I just saw a girl on Al Jazeera from Lebanon say that people from her area earlier saw Syrians being brutalized by the Syrian security forces and rushed across the border to help them. Apparently the security people/soldiers fled in fear.

[visionary]

SYRIA

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-29

2:58pm A witness in Deraa speaking to Al Jazeera today from close to the Omari Mosque that has been a focus for the uprising described a scene of death and devastation, confirming earlier testimony from a separate source of a split in the military forces sent by president Assad to lay siege to the city.

At least 80 people have been killed since the military assault began on Monday, said the witness, who said he had collected the names of the dead from different neighbourhoods and counted 25 bodies in his own area.

“Some areas smell really bad due to the bodies rotting in the street. No one can collect them for fear of being shot,” he said, the sound of continuous gunfire audible over the phone. Those bodies which have been collected are being stored in refrigerated lorries, he said.

“Deraa is completely surrounded by tanks and armed troops. There are snipers on the roofs of government buildings and tall buildings. They are hiding behind water tanks and some are even hiding in the minarets of mosques.”

The source said not all members of the Fifth Division had defected, but those who had were attempting to protect civilians against attacks on them by the Fourth Division, led by Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad.

“Those who have defected are fighting on behalf of the people, helping them with information on the army’s movements and trying to protect civilians from attacks,” he said.

The witness said he had witnessed the defection yesterday of some 20 soldiers of the Fifth Division who abandoned their unit and ran towards civilian houses. “I saw two soldiers gunned down and killed,” he said.

Some local farmers were preparing to arm themselves with hunting rifles they customarily keep at home to shoot birds and wild animals, but the source said he had seen no evidence of an organised armed group of locals fighting against the military.

Plainclothes security were deployed everywhere in city, he said.

The main state-run hospital in Deraa had been surrounded by security officers who were only allowing in military casualties, he said, while doctors and nurses working had been prevented from leaving.

Wounded civilians are being treated in unsanitary conditions in private homes. “There is no medicine for the sick and wounded available in Deraa,” he said. “Private medical clinics have no electricity and have run out of medicine.”

The eyewitness said those he had visited at home included asthmatics who had run out of medicine to help them breathe and several people suffering kidney failure because electricity cuts across the city meant their dialysis machines no longer worked.

“People cannot get to the hospitals for fear of being killed. In five days we have not heard a single ambulance,” he said. “There’s not enough bread so people are eating stale bread used to feed chickens.” Food stored in refrigerators has rotted over five days without electricity.

Authorities had opened the water supply to the city for a few hours yesterday, said the eyewitness, but supplies of drinking water remained scarce.

The man also reported the first signs of looting by secret police. “I saw gold jewellery in the pocket of a dead mukhaberrat when people were trying to find his ID card,” he said, with residents claiming the man had been killed in cross fire by state security forces.

2:59pm Syrian security forces fire tear gas to disperse protesters in Old Qanawat district of Damascus, human rights campaigner says.

3:30pm Reuters reports that Syrian forces have injured scores when they fired on thousands of villagers who had come to the besieged city of Deraa on Friday in support of its residents. A witness tells Reuters:

They shot at people at the western gate of Deraa in the Yadoda area, almost three kilometres way from the centre of the city," said one witness.

4:05pm Al Jazeera's Rula Amin says that protesters are adamant in bringing the protesters to the capital, Damascus.

In more than 50 towns and villages there were protests today.

4:20pm A protestor burns a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a demonstration after Friday prayers in Istanbul against the regime of al-Assad and the deadly crackdown on opposition protests. Photo sourced from AFP.

4:45pm About 10,000 Syrians have marched in support of Deraa from the old Midan district of Damascus biggest protest in the capital since the mass democracy movement began six weeks ago, rights campaigners said.

5:00pm Photo sent in from activists of protests in Banyas, but Al Jazeera cannot verify the veracity of this image.

5:05pm Syria TV have released video purportedly showing buildings burnt and vandalised in Deraa, and one of its TV crews after being beaten by a mob

5:15pm Syrian Arab News Agency reports that an official military source has announced that an armed terrorist group stormed into a military point of the Army Units in Daraa early on Friday morning killing four military members and kidnapping two conscripts: Abdulmajed Saleh Abdulaziz and Haidar Mustafa Ismael.

5:20pm Reuters reports that a hospital near Deraa has received fifteen bullet-riddled bodies of villagers killed when security forces fired at thousands attempting to enter the besieged southern city, a medical source said.

The source at the hospital in Tafas, 12 km (8 miles) north west of the city, told Reuters 38 more villagers were injured and in hospital.

6:25pm Photo sent in from a protest in Homs. Al Jazeera cannot verify the veracity of this image.

6:45pm Updates from Al Jazeera sources:

Two smaller protests took place in Damascus today. In Ashma Square to the south of Damascus around 800 protesters chanted for the fall of the regime, but were soon surrounded by police and regime supporters, so the protest was abandoned, according to an eyewitness.

In the Hammediyye souk in the Old City a smaller protest of some 300 people took place, which was quickly dispersed when police in cars and on motor bikes drove at the protestors, according to an eyewitness. He said that no one was hurt.

In the central industrial city of Homs, a focus of anti-regime protests over the past fortnight, security personnel opened fire as protesters were leaving the demonstration there today, according to an eyewitness. There was no word yet of casualties, but soldiers in armoured personnel carriers and the secret police had arrested protesters on Cairo Street, he said.

In the north-west Kurdish-majority city of Hassake around 1,000 protesters gathered in front the Ghwairan Mosque, according to an eyewitness, but due to the heavy security presence other protesters were prevented from joining them.

The eyewitness said the protest, which was smaller than those seen on previous Fridays, had been hampered by the call from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in support of demonstrations.

“Let’s do it another time,” he said in summing up the feeling of Kurds he has spoken with who were reluctant to be associated with an Islamist group, membership of which is punishable by death in Syria.

---------- Post added April-29th-2011 at 01:11 PM ----------

http://twitter.com/#!/REUTERSFLASH

Syrian forces kill 24 civilians, including 2 children, in attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators on Friday - rights group Sawasiah 6 minutes ago

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

Sayda- More than 15 martyrs and 50 wounded taken to hospital in Bosra and health clinics in Al Jiza, Ghasm, and nearby villages 40 minutes ago

Al Rustun Natl Hospital refuses to accept the wounded and refuses to supply other hospitals with resources like anesthesia 24 minutes ago

Al Rustun- Army attacks a detachment of military security responsible for today's massacre, about 70 wounded 21 minutes ago

Tanks and armored personnel carriers bomb at least 10 homes in Daraa Al Balad People's only weapon is prayer and takbir 21 minutes ago

It is the armed forces that is shooting in Al Rustun, tanks arrived at the entrances of Al Rustun, reports of 7 martyrs so far (Homs) 13 minutes ago

Wow!

Tanks attacking Shaykh Miskeen in Hauran

12 minutes ago

ejbITxQ_BZ0

Edited April 29, 2011 by visionary

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-29

8:30pm AFP reports that some 300 villagers from unrest-hit Syria crossed into Turkey on Friday and were offered shelter in a town near the border, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The group waved Turkish flags and chanted "We want democracy" and "We want to live like the Turks" after they broke through barbed wire near the town of Yayladagi, in the Mediterranean province of Hatay which borders Syria, Anatolia said.

8:55pm The US slapped new sanctions on Syria's intelligence agency and two relatives of President Bashar al-Assad in Washington's first concrete steps in response to a bloody crackdown on protests.

9:23pm Reports filtering in that more than 50 Syrians were killed as tens of thousands of protesters rallied for a "day of rage" after Friday prayers, defying warnings of a harsh crackdown, rights activists and officials said.

http://twitter.com/#!/SeekerSK

Heavy gunfire from machine guns towards suburbs of Daraa now 17 minutes ago

A child in the protests of Bansh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70m8i57lRpk 13 minutes ago

70m8i57lRpk

More than 62 fallen martyrs today 14 minutes ago

Please watch and pass on this video of what happened in Daraa

14 minutes ago

rilCSshK5Vo

Urgent: Artillery shelling of Daraa Al Balad began a few minutes ago and is continuing 11 minutes ago

YEMEN

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011429162428965468.html

Massive rally in Yemen urges Saleh to go

Two days ahead of signing of Gulf peace deal, Sanaa sees one of the largest protests yet demanding president's ousting.

Last Modified: 29 Apr 2011 18:21

Vast crowds have taken to the streets across Yemen to demand the immediate resignation of Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president, rather than the phased handover of power envisaged by a Gulf Arab plan expected to be signed on Sunday.

On Siteen Street, the largest road in Sanaa, the capital, 100,000 anti-government protesters flooded a 5km stretch to mark a "Friday of Loyalty to the Martyrs" commemorating the deaths of at least 142 protesters killed in the past three months.

During a Muslim prayer service, an imam read out a list of those killed in the protests.

"Enough blood, enough killing, just leave, leave, leave," the imam said during the sermon. "You have to submit to the people's demands."

Tens of thousands of people also gathered in the city in a pro-Saleh rally to mark a "Friday of Constitutional Legitimacy".

Waving flags and pictures of the president, they shouted: "The people want Ali Abdullah Saleh."

The demonstrations came as the AP news agency reported that Yemeni plainclothes police had opened fire on Friday on protesters calling for Saleh's ousting in a western port city.

Five protesters were wounded in the shooting in Hodeida on the Red Sea, and both sides then hurled stones at each other, witnesses said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/201142892055410417.html

Uganda politician's arrest sparks deadly riot

At least two people killed as supporters of Kizza Besigye protest against his re-arrest and high food and fuel prices.

Last Modified: 29 Apr 2011 12:09

At least two people have been killed after Ugandan police fired live bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds protesting against the arrest of Kizza Besigye, leader of the country's main opposition party, a Reuters witness says.

Ugandan security officials prevented Besigye from boarding a plane to Kenya on Friday to seek treatment for injuries received during his arrest on Thursday.

"Plain clothes men have blocked him from leaving. We don't know why. They are threatening him with arrest if he does not leave (the airport)," Anne Mugisha, deputy foreign secretary of the the Forum for Democratic Change party (FDC), said.

She said the plane Besigye had been due to board left for Nairobi without him.

One of the victims in Friday's riot appeared to have been shot in the head and was lying in a pool of blood at a local market, a witness said.

Michael Nataka, from the Ugandan Red Cross, said more than 100 people had sought medical attention.

"There are a number of injuries. Some, about 21 of them, have bullet wounds. Then we have people who have been affected by tear gas, there are those who have injuries as a result of stones, they were hit by stones," he said.

"Then we have those who look like they were beaten, either by batons or sticks. Then we have those who were injured as a result of falling down as they were running." Nataka said.

Local media reported a third person had been killed in the riot, but the claims could not be independently verified.

Smoke billowed over the capital Kampala after crowds burnt tyres to block roads.

Protesters stoned shops and cars to express their anger at Besigye being beaten, pepper-sprayed and dragged away by police, all shown on TV.

Edited April 29, 2011 by visionary