Syria, Yemen (And Beyond): Switching From West to East

See also Tunisia (and Beyond) Opinion: Can West Stop Worrying and Accept the Islamist Movements?

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The scene at the "victory party" outside of the Al Nahda party headquarters in Tunisia

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2216 GMT: A protest in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka tonight:

And a march from the Al-Rifai mosque in Kafarsouseh:

1916 GMT: Protests tonight in the besieged Baba Amr district of Homs, Syria:

1849 GMT: Activists share this video, reportedly showing police in Daraa, Syria, trying to tell people to open their shops and break the general strike. Security can close shops easily enough, but how does a security force think it will enforce "open"?

1821 GMT: As we reported earlier, there has been a large pro-Assad rally in Damascus, and several counter protests as well. This video shows another anti-Assad protest in Damascus, this one in the important neighborhood of Midan:

1811 GMT: A team from the US Department of Labor has just wrapped up an investigation into ethnically-based job purges in Bahrain, and is expected to release a report in December.

1806 GMT: Both Qatar and Sudan both admitted today that they sent troops and/or weapons to the Libyan rebels, above and beyond the humanitarian aid that they also supplied.

1752 GMT: Colonel Muammar Qaddafi's son, Said al Islam, and another top Qaddafi official have, according to Reuters, expressed interest in turning themselves in to the International Criminal Court, citing concerns for their own safety:

Muammar Qaddafi’s fugitive son Saif al-Islam and former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi are proposing to hand themselves into the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a senior Libyan military official with the National Transitional Council said on Wednesday.

“They are proposing a way to hand themselves over to The Hague,” Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters from Libya.

1551 GMT: Activists are reporting that 3 children have been killed today in Syria. This EXTREMELY GRAPHIC and HEARTBREAKING VIDEO shows 18 month old Katreen Khabor, shot in the head in Homs. The Guardian reports:

The LCC says that Dalal Al-Joriyah, aged five, died after being shot in the head by security forces, also in Homs, and an unnamed 12-year-old died in the Damascus suburb, Douma. It puts the death toll at the hands of security forces today at 15, 10 of them in Homs.

The British-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights says 19 have been killed, including seven in Homs. Its total includes nine soldiers it says were killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in Hama province, probably fired by deserters.

1529 GMT: Al Jazeera interviews the new Libyan leader, head of the NTC Mustafa Jalil, about NATO's role in Libya, and the formation of a new government:

1522 GMT: Syrian state TV, SANA, says that 1 million people gathered in Umayyad Square, in downtown Damascus, to show their support of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Like previous rallies, they have only posted static pictures of the square, so it is hard to tell how large the crowd really is:

These protests, in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka, were the direct response:

1447 GMT: According to Reuters, most of Homs and large portions of northwestern Syria have successfully executed a general strike. According to activists in Homs, even public employeeds participated, and nearly ever shop has been closed.

Reuters also reports that two people have been killed in Ma'arrat an-Numan, where (as we mentioned in our opening post) defecting soldiers have been clashing with soldiers loyal to Assad:

Two protesters were reported killed in the Idlib town of Maarat al-Numaan on the Damascus-Aleppo highway, where businesses had shut down, anti-Assad activists said.

"Everyone closed shop and a crowd of thousands assembled near the mosaics museum in the center of the town, where they came under fire. The AMN (security police) are still firing at random to break the strike," a local resident said.

However, there are also reports that 9 other soldiers, and a total of 15 people, have been killed elsewhere in Syria. The AFP reports:

the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people, including nine government soldiers, had been killed in the latest unrest between Assad loyalists and opponents. "Nine servicemen, including an officer of the Syrian regular army, were killed by a rocket, fired by armed men, probably deserters. The soldiers were on a vehicle in Al-Hamrat village, on the Hama-Salamiyah road," it said.

Activists have posted footage of the general strike. This video shows the nearly deserted streets of Hama, reportedly taken from a car driving through a major thoroughfare, Salahuddin Road:

Shops are closed in Idlib city as well:

1427 GMT: The AP reports that 25 people died last night in the capital of Yemen, Sana'a, a mix of civilians, tribal fighters, and government soldiers. To protest the violence, a large group of women gathered today and burned their veils, chanting "Who protects Yemeni women from the crimes of the thugs?" The women handed out leaflets at the protest that read,

"This is a plea from the free women of Yemen; here we burn our makrama in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried by the tyrant Saleh," the leaflets read.

5 people were also killed in Taiz, including 4 members of 1 family, as the government shelled the city, a trend that started several days ago.

1415 GMT: In Hama, tear gas was reportedly used to break up a protest today:

James Miller takes the blog.

1235 GMT: A Red Cross source has told the Libyan newspaper Qurynaew that the bodies of 267 people, many of them believed to have been summarily executed, have been found in Sirte, the hometown of former Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Officials documented the bodies before they were buried in mass graves, the source told the Libyan paper.

1230 GMT: Students in Hazarin in Idlib Province in northwest Syria chant, "We want the execution of the President":

1205 GMT: In Sanamein in the south of Syria, a demonstration looks for support in its chant, "Where are the Arabs?" today:

1150 GMT: Sean McAllister, a journalist with Britain's Channel 4 News, has spoken of his detention last week in Syria.

McAllister, arrested at a Damascus cafe, said he and a Syrian journalist named Jihad were blindfolded and driven to a prison in the capital. He said:

I was placed on a seat in an empty room on my own. Outside I could hear beatings in a neighbouring room. People being slapped and wailing painfully as they were being whacked.

When they are taken out of the cell they are blindfolded and their hands are tied. They are taken down the corridor to this, well, they don't know where they are going, the whole thing, having been blindfolded for a little bit, the disorientation, of never seeing and the person you keep meeting is just a voice that you hear and you have to see him on one knee, you are forced to kneel on one knee. It’s a very awkward position to be in for maybe an hour of interrogation.

If they are not satisfied with the info, you would be brought out at three in the morning into the torture chamber and whipped with the cable or there was like a hundred leather belts like a big ball of leather belts in the corner.

0950 GMT: The Bahraini regime is introducing 10-year prison sentences and fines of up to BD300,000 for "cyber-crime".

According to the regime outlet Gulf News, those who use the Internet or telecom devices "to spread information that threatened national security", for terrorism ,or to damage the reputation of others could get up to three years in jail or a fine of up to BD100,000, or both. If the offender was successful, the sentence would be up to five years and the fine up to BD200,000.

Among other provisions, anyone who accesses computer systems without authorisation faces up to a year in jail or a fine of BD30,000, or both. Those who deliberately hack into networks with the purpose of destroying them or damaging information or data could receive three years in prison and/or a fine of up to BD50,000, or both.

The sentence could be to seven years with a maximum fine of BD300,000 if the offender deliberately disrupts public facilities, such as traffic lights or irrigation systems or if he/she threatened people's lives and safety through hacking, tampered with medical reports, or led to someone's death.

Those who use the multimedia devices to steal information would face up to three years in jail or a fine of up to BD100,000, or both.

The bill is not quite law. MP voted to refer it to the foreign affairs, defence, and national security committee for two weeks for further study. However, Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs, and Endowments Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa said it was unnecessary to delay the law. He offered to sit with committee members to revise the articles in question.

0930 GMT: The Star of Canada opens its report on a Canadian citizen facing prison in Bahrain:

Naser al-Raas remembers the cramped office, the beatings, and the small gun pointed at his head. He remembers the cables used to tie his hands behind a chair and the blindfold fastened around his face.

He remembers the ambush at Bahrain International Airport on March 20, just as he was preparing to present his Canadian passport to customs and fly to Kuwait, where he was born.

He remembers three mock executions held under the desert sun. And he remembers the dingy cell in the notorious Al Qala prison, where he said he spent more than a month in solitary confinement, beaten and electrocuted daily, the screams of other tortured prisoners echoing through the halls.

Now on Wednesday, nearly six months after he was inexplicably released from that cell, authorities are set to enter his in-laws’ home in Bahrain — where he is staying with his Bahraini fiancée Zainab — and steer him to prison, for a five-year term for participating in antiregime demonstrations that swept the country beginning in February.

0920 GMT: According to a detained officer, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader, escaped from the besieged town of Bani Walid last week even though his convoy was hit by NATO fire.

Al-Senussi Sharif al-Senussi, an army lieutenant who was part of Qaddafi's security team in Bani Walid until the city fell on 17 October, said, "He was nervous. He had a Thuraya (satellite phone) and he called his father many times.

Al-Senussi continued, "He repeated to us: don't tell anyone where I am. Don't let them spot me. He was afraid of mortars. He seemed confused."

Al-Senussi is now in a makeshift jail inside Bani Walid's airport. He said, "When [Qaddafi's] left Bani Walid it was hit by an air strike but he escaped alive."

0400 GMT: The Tunisian election authority (ISIE) has announced some of the election results for the constitutional assembly. The results of 87 of the 217 seats have been announced, and the al Nahda party has won 37 of them. Al Jazeera reports that the remaining seats were distributed as follows:

"The Congress Party for the Republic (CPR) had 14, Aridha Chaabia 11, Ettakatol 10 and the Progressive Democratic Party five seats."

Without a majority, the party will be forced into building a coalition, which is probably a very positive development for the prospect of true democracy. The moderate Islamist party has released a press release, claiming that they have won 40% of the vote and pledging to cooperate with the other parties:

"We are pleased to see that the political climate has left behind the tension that was naturally part of the election campaign, and we are pleased to hear mature and responsible stances from political leaders. We certainly need to learn new democratic principles, including the fact that the opposition has an important role to play."

"We stress once again that we wish to cooperate with all parties without any exclusion. We are open to all political parties inside the assembly and outside it, as well as civil society bodies such as the great Tunisian trade union and other unions."

"We are in talks in order to form alliances based on a shared economic, social and political program."

So, Qaddafi is dead and buried, and Tunisia seems to be on the road to democracy. The protesters on the eastern front of Arab Spring, such as the men and women in the streets of Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain, hope that the world's attention will now be firmly focused on their cause.

Yesterday, the people of Homs, Syria, were given a brief respite from the nearly constant artillery bombardment that they have been subjected to for many days. However, the artillery shells were replaced with tanks in the streets and police conducting house-to-house raids, arresting scores of dissidents.

Nationwide, there were many protests, and more reported violence. There were even reports, and video, of small protests inside Damascus proper. However, the big news seems to have been the clashes between the military loyal to Assad and defecting soldiers in Ma'arrat an-Numan, a crucial city between Hama and Aleppo. This will certainly be a story we will continue to watch.

In Yemen, dissident General Ali Mohsen and President Ali Abdullah Saleh supposedly signed a cease-fire agreement, but reports of clashes continued after the deadline for cease-fire was passed. At least 2 were reportedly killed, 40 wounded, and the AP posted dramatic video of soldiers turning against peaceful protesters.

So, with the hope of democracy showing signs that it may become reality in the birthplace of Arab Spring, and with the the world's military involvement in the movement coming to a close in Libya, activists in three countries (Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain) are hoping that they will be "next," and the world will turn its attention to making their dreams a reality.

After all, their fate may depend on it.