Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Months of Protests and Violence

See also Bahrain Feature: The 20 Doctors' Reply to Their Prison Sentences
Bahrain Report & Videos: Protests in 40 Villages on Friday, Man Dies From Tear Gas
Syria Video Special: The Friday Protests
Yemen Interview: President Saleh "I Will Retire When There Are Elections"
Syria Special: #MediaFail --- It's Not Yet a Civil War
Bahrain 1st-Hand: "48 Hours in Sanabis"
Friday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Punishment and Protests

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1905 GMT: A man claiming to be Moussa Ibrahim, the spokesman for former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, has denied claims that he was captured this week by forces of the National Transitional Council, outside of Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte.

"This information is a lie and does not reflect reality," the man said in a live telephone interview with Syrian-based Arrai television, an outlet for declarations by Qaddafi and his allies.

On Thursday, NTC field commanders said Ibrahim had been captured as he attempted to flee Sirte in a car. A spokesman for the NTC's Misrata military council said the next day: "We cannot confirm he was arrested."

Meanwhile, the NTC has declared a two-day truce to allow civilians to leave Sirte, as its forces continue to try to take one of Qaddafi's last two strongholds.

And in the Libyan capital Tripoli, the first commercial flight since March --- a jet from Istanbul --- has landed.

Flags representing Turkey and Libya's new leadership flew outside Mitiga International Airport as the plane touched down.

A U.N. Security Council resolution had imposed a no-fly zone in March.

1855 GMT: An EA reader asks if there has been any footage of protests in the Deir Ez Zor area of northeast Syria this weekend --- a couple of answers among many clips, beginning with the Al Arfi neighbourhood:

And claimed footage from Al Quriya today:

1825 GMT: Expect more of this type of political fencing from Yemen, after the killing by drone of Al Qa'eda's Anwar al Awlaki on Friday --- some analysts are saying the death can give the US more room to push for the departure of President Saleh and "transition", now that the most visible face of Al Qa'eda in Yemen is dead; the Yemeni regime is trying to portray the operation as the success of a Saleh-led US-Yemeni alliance that should continue:

The United States showed a lack of respect for democracy and for its counter-terrorism partners by renewing its call for Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down, hours after Anwar al-Awlaki was killed with his government's help, a Yemeni official said Saturday....

The strike was made possible by intelligence Yemeni security sources said they gathered from a captured al Qaeda operative....

"After this big victory in catching Awlaki, the White House calls on the president to leave power immediately? The Americans don't even respect those who cooperate with them," Deputy Information Minister Abdu al-Janadi told Reuters.

1815 GMT: More funerals in Syria today of people killed by the security forces --- Harasta, outside Damascus, for Hasan Ibrahim Affouf:

Al Ghadfa in the northwest, for Mohammad Khaled al Ibrahim:

1545 GMT: Bahraini activists are claiming, with video, that police raided the house of a man named Jassim Hyat, seizing him, his wife, and his children, in Bilad-Alqadim.

Security forces in Sitra today:

1535 GMT: It appears that, with its lengthy prison sentences for 20 doctors, the Bahraini regime has succeeded in putting its political conflict back into the international spotlight.

The regime's Information Affairs Authority is insisting, "This [case] has nothing to do with treating the protesters. [The doctors were] collaborating with the hard liners... to overthrow the regime. This is an attempted coup d'etat."

However, as they await the summons to the prison, the doctors have made appearances on international television and radio and put out a statement (see separate entry) explaining their actions and turning back criticism on the regime for preventing proper medical care for patients.

Abdullah Janahi, the Sunni Vice President of Waad, the main secular opposition party in Bahrain, has added via Twitter, "Throughout the crisis I was escorting [my mother] to Salmaniya hospital to do dialysis sessions. The care was marvellous and there wasn't discrimination; Shiite nurses paid respect for every patient."

1355 GMT: Rami Abdul-Raham, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has said regime troops have occupied most of Rastan, the town in Homs Province where troops have been in a battle since Tuesday with defecting soldiers who sided with protesters.

Abdul-Raham said the troops spread out across Rastan after defectors pulled out from the town. Service for land and cellular telephones has been cut in the town, preventing information from residents; however, people in nearby areas said the main highway linking the central city of Homs with the northern city of Aleppo has been closed for days.

A large funeral procession in the Bab Amr district of Homs for Rami Al-Fakhouri, killed by security forces:

1235 GMT: In Bahrain, the second round of voting in 14 Parliamentary by-elections is being held today, after last week's ballot was marked by a low 17.4% turnout amidst a boycott by opposition parties and movements.

The Bahrain News Agency is already proclaiming, via a Government official, "There is larger turnout during the second round of by-elections in the capital governorate in contrast with the first round conducted last week."

Meanwhile, activists have announced a "Manama Tsunami" protest, blocking cars moving to the Bahraini capital's financial and business hub --- date and details will be provided later:

Protesters in Juffair village hurl paint a police vehicle last night:

1225 GMT: In a video report from the Damascus suburb of Barzeh on Friday, the BBC's Lyse Doucet talks of a heavy security presence, "planted" statement in favour of the Syrian presence, and residents afraid to speak. One gets a note to her, "Thank you, but no one can make a meeting with you because the army is in the other street and all the people are afraid of them."

0540 GMT: We will soon post a feature summarising Friday's protests --- and a death from tear gas inhalation --- in Bahrain. Meanwhile, international media continue to pick up on the story of the 20 doctors sentenced by a military court on Thursday to prison terms of 5 to 15 years. Dr Nada Dhaif, given 15 years, and Fatima Haji, sentenced to 5, talk with CNN:

Their words can be contrasted with the mix of fact and fiction in the prosecutor's statement --- not evidence, just the statement --- released by the Bahrain News Agency. It is a tale of doctors rallying and calling for the resignation of the Minister of Health (true), setting up a "revolutionary group" (unproven), treating "only Shia patients who called for the toppling of the government" (unproven), and "hiding weapons and ammunition" (unproven).

0520 GMT: We begin with a mistake from The New York Times in its Twitter feed advertising its stories, "Syria: Day of Protests and Violence".

The error is a simple but important one. This is not a "day" or even "days"; it is "months". And so Friday was just another in the pattern, with an inconclusive outcome over whether that pattern will change. Rallies against the regime took place across the country, with large gatherings throughout Homs and significant protests in the northwest, the south, and the Damascus suburbs. Activists said "at least 30" people were killed by the security forces.

The one possible shift of significance are the Syrian military's fights with defectors from its ranks. We continued to get reports of an ongoing fight in Rastan, near Homs, and there were also claims that military-on-military conflict was occurring near Damascus. This video, which James Miller analysed on Friday, still prompts interest and questions: who is the armed opponent apparently firing at Syrian soldiers and where did this occur?