Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Occupation and Demands

Demonstration last night in Hama in Syria

2141 GMT: Tonight, Aleppo suddenly does not seem so sleepy. Protesters in Al Jamiliah, west of the city's center, chant for the fall of the regime.

2130 GMT: In Aleppo today, protesters chant "We bow down only to God... Where is Aleppo´s people conscience... Oh Aleppo, rise, rise!...With our soul and blood we sacrifice ourselves for Daraa," and "Allah is the Greatest!" (Thanks to Zilal for translation).

2114 GMT: Video from today's clashes and protests in Jidhafs, Bahrain. It matches pictures and descriptions of witness accounts.

2045 GMT: Activists say the US is encouraging discussion of a plan that would create reforms in Syria but would leave the Assad regime in place. According to the opposition, the "roadmap" was distributed to members attending Monday's conference in Damascus, a conference where many established heads of Syria's political parties were barred from attending.

The Guardian of London reports:

It [the roadmap] does not attack the president or other regime figures by name. It calls for the ruling Ba'ath party to be subject to a new law on political parties – though the party would still provide 30 of 100 members for a proposed transitional national assembly. Seventy others would be appointed by the president in consultation with opposition nominees – which will still leave Assad in a powerful position.

Perhaps this is why the US State Department has stopped short of calling on Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The roadmap is signed by Louay Hussein and Maan Abdelsalam, leading secular intellectuals in a group called the National Action Committee, and two of the organisers of the Damascus conference.

Will it work? In most of the videos I've seen in the last three months, the people are very clear in their demands: "The people want the fall of the regime."

2037 GMT: The scene tonight in Abu Kamal Bdiral Zor, a city in eastern Syria, and the capital of Deir al Zour.

I started my coverage (1231 GMT) with a note that the Syrian military has largely abandoned Hama and Deir Ezzor. It seems only fitting that, at the end of the day, protesters in those two cities are large in number and looking to Aleppo for the next chapter of the Arab Spring.

2025 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria have also reported the scene in Hama:

Hama: about 100,000 protesters are siting-in in AlAsi Sq. and a total electricity blackout, protesters are chanting "People want electricity"

2013 GMT: The people of Homs, and the surrounding villages, have had their power cut off.

It is unclear whether the blackouts spawned protests, or protests spawned blackouts, but there are reports, and the video below, of large crowds chanting in support of the people of Aleppo:

2005 GMT: Earlier today, the people of the besieged Kafranbel village, in Idlib province north of Aleppo, call to Aleppo to join the revolution.

1955 GMT: It's probably going to be another slow Friday in Syria. So far, an activist is reporting night protests in Homs,Douma, De'al, Deir el Zour, several villages in Idlib province, Amouda, Aleppo, Damascus, and there is a report of 100,000 people gathered in Hama, where electricity has been cut off but security is nowhere to be seen.

Hopefully we won't be bored tomorrow.

1944 GMT: The latest military crackdown in northern Syria is designed to isolate Aleppo from protests, but it is also designed from preventing refugees from fleeing into Turkey:

"[The authorities] fear there will be sympathy for the people who are fleeing, and they are frightened that this will cause international pressure to mount on the regime," Mustafa Osso, a prominent Syrian-based human rights activist, told AP.

1935 GMT: An interesting analysis of today's developments in Aleppo - We've noted for quite some time videos and reports of pro-regime thugs patrolling the city, preventing potential protests from forming. As a result, protests have been scattered, mainly confined to the suburbs and the university. Today, protests did form, as several thousand took to the streets, but the crowds were dispersed by thugs with clubs and electric batons.

The opposition has also noted the developments. Activists on Facebook have called from protesters in the region to meet in Aleppo, in the hopes of providing safety in numbers and sparking larger protests:

Protests have been largely muted in Aleppo but a Facebook group that has been a motor of the uprising has called on Syrians to mobilise across the country and march on the commercial hub of Aleppo to demand the regime's downfall.

The Syrian Revolution 2011 group also urged people to rally after weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, branding July 1 "the Friday of departure."

Facebook has been cited as a major force for creating unity and driving the protesters into the streets. This strategy will be a new test in the power of social media to topple regimes.

1924 GMT: Back from a break to find this video of today's protests in Aleppo. The videographer is obviously trying to conceal that he is recording the event.

1750 GMT: According to the Associated Press, the two day death toll has reached 19 in the Syrian crackdown against protesters and Alawites in northern Syria, near the Turkish border.

1735 GMT: Libya - A leading rebel colonel is denying a report that the French military has supplied the rebels with new weapons of any kind:

"Whoever gave us these arms should come here and tell us where he put them," said Col. Mokhtar Milad Fernana.

Earlier this week, an unnamed French military official said that France had parachuted new weapons to the Libyan rebels in the Nafusa mountains.

1715 GMT: According to Al Jazeera, Yemen's vice president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said today that president Saleh's condition is serious enough that he may not return to Yemen for months.

AJE is also reporting that 300 more soldiers have defected from the Yemeni military and have joined the protesters.

1708 GMT: The Local Coordination Committees of Syria give us this update on the situation today in Aleppo, Syria's second largest city:

Security forces arrested about 40 students on Adonis alley today, most of whom were from the faculty of technical engineering. Among the detainees are girls who didn't take part in chanting for freedom, but were arrested for sympathizing with the protesters.

The univesity dorm city has also expelled all the resident students today with the deadline being 2 PM. Due to the cancelling of all buses and trains, the students remained with no place to stay so some families invited them to stay over until they are able to travel back to their hometowns. Worth mentioning is that the evacuation law states that all students must leave the dorms after the final examinations, but this is the first year that this is applied on the same day by forcing the students to leave without prior notice.

1605 GMT: Activists have uploaded this map of today's protests in Jidhafs, Bahrain (see updates starting 1440 GT):

1559 GMT: 60 tanks and large groups of soldiers deployed to small villages in Idlib province, northwest Syria, north of Aleppo. First, the soldiers entered Al-Bara, then split up and entered Kafr Nabl and Kansafra. This report matches our earlier analysis (1231 GMT) that the Syrian military is concentrating on the area north of Aleppo.

1551 GMT: Yemen's acting president, Vice President Hadi, admits that the security situation is decaying, and the government has lost control of 5 provinces, but he still appears to be backing away from the transition plan proposed by the Gulf Cooperation Council. According to Hadi, President Saleh will step down once elections are held, a far cry from the original GCC proposal to have Saleh step down within 30 days.

1544 GMT: There are sporadic pro-Assad rallies occurring across Damascus. According to our sources, it appears that at least some members of these rallies are armed and have broken up the anti-government protesters. Also, the Assad supporters appear to be quickly moving across the city in an attempt to appear larger than they are.

It is unclear if there are any anti-Assad protests still occurring in Damascus at this hour.

1525 GMT: While Aleppo, Syria's second largest city, has begun to stir (see updates below), so has Damascus. The BBC's Lina Sinjab reports that seven students were arrested, including two girls, at a protest at the university in Damascus about two hours ago. The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria has this more recent account, written in the last 40 minutes:

Syria -  Damascus: About 500 students gathered in front of the College of Economy, chanting for freedom. After less than 5 minutes they were attacked by shabiha (regime's armed thugs) to repress the protest. 5 students at least were detained and shabiha now started a pro-Assad demonstration; they beat students brutally with the help of dustmen, thousands of security agents arrived and security buses are still arriving there until now.

Two of the detainees of the sit-in of Damascus University are the student Talal Al-Khaldi, and the student Raneem Matouq, daughter of the lawyer and legal activist Khaleel Matouq.

In Aleppo, 

Military checkpoints at the city perimeters denied the entrance of all public transportation buses coming from Idlib and made them return back.

1514 GMT: Reports of protests and clashes in Syria's second largest city, Aleppo. This narrative provided by the Syria Free Press:

"Today, a demonstration took place at Bab Farj, starting with about 100 people who were attacked by by Shabiha with swords and iron bars and bats, axes and clubs and sticks, chanting for Abu Hafez (Bashar Al-Assad) and against AlJazeera and the opposition. After the attacks, the Shabiha gathered again to join an armed demonstration supporting the regime in Saad Allah Al-Jabri Square."

In Bab Al Nasr, Aleppo, protesters run from pro-regime thugs:

1508 GMT: While we wait for the smoke to literally settle in Bahrain enough to get the details of what has just occurred, we turn to Syria.

In Amuda, a majority Kurdish town on the far northeastern border of Syria and Turkey, tear gas has been fired at demonstrators who can be heard chanting for the fall of the regime.

1500 GMT: Activist Abu Saber is reporting that at least four activists, Naser Yahya , Mohamed Jawad, Hussain Ali and Redha Isa, have been arrested in Jidhafs, and people have been injured, either hit with tear gas canisters or rubber bullets (picture).

An activist uploads this picture, a crowd of mainly women gathering to protest.

1448 GMT: There are reports of protests in Jidhafs, Bahrain, where tear gas has been fired. In Jidhafs, a video has been posted by an activist, showing protesters chanting there.

1440 GMT: There are reports that protesters are gathering at a rally site in Jidhafs, Bahrain. Here is a picture, reporting to show protesters en route:

1359 GMT: Today's "always looking on the bright side" alert - The crime rate in Yemen has gone down considerably during the unrest, according to the Yemen Times:

“We have not been receiving many complaints or reports of crime from people as we used to in February for example,” said a police officer at Sabeen Police Station. “We witnessed a decrease in the number of burglary, car theft, prostitution, land disputes, revenge killing and other similar crimes.”

James Miller notes that the report doesn't count the shelling of residential neighborhoods with tanks and artillery as a crime.

1350 GMT: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stated that the US will establish limited contact with the Muslim Brotherhood:

"We believe, given the changing political landscape in Egypt, that it is in the interests of the United States to engage with all parties that are peaceful, and committed to non-violence, that intend to compete for the parliament and the presidency.

"Now in any of those contacts, prior or future, we will continue to emphasize the importance of and support for democratic principles and especially a commitment to non-violence, respect for minority rights, and the full inclusion of women in any democracy."

1345 GMT: Another country heard from - This video reportedly shows youth demonstrating in Casablanca, Morocco:

1329 GMT: Activists have posted two videos (English subtitles) of men who claim they have defected from the Syrian military and joined the protesters.

1323 GMT: It has been a long, hard few months for the people of Tripoli. Ali, a man who fled Tripoli and returned to his home in Misurata, shares his story, and his videos, with Al Jazeera:

1257 GMT: Several thousand protesters are still in the streets of Egypt's Tahrir Square, calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy.

The Guardian's Jack Shenker has a report from Cairo, where he points out a growing division. While the politicians gearing up for election are supporting the protests, the military is painting the protesters as counter-revolutionaries, people who are disruptive to progress who are trying to bring down the revolution.

1231 GMT: James Miller takes the reigns...

The Guardian's Nidaa Hassan has similar reports from Hama. According to some of her sources, the regime has already fallen in Hama:

"The atmosphere is like a carnival," said a person who attended last Friday's protest. "There are old and young people, women, men and children; the whole city is out."

Hassan is also claiming that Deir Ezzor, in the east, has been ceded to the opposition, with no signs of security anywhere. 

"I think the government is trying to keep a lull before July 10 realising it is losing strength," said one analyst in the capital. Activists say the government is buying time, pointing to the huge numbers of demonstrators in Hama and Deir Ezzor as evidence of the opposition that pours out in places free of security.

Our assessment: Homs, Aleppo, and Damascus and its suburbs, the three largest cities in Syria, are still under lockdown. North of Aleppo, between the city and the Turkey border, the Syrian military has deployed the bulk of its armed forces to both crack down against dissent and to stop witnesses from fleeing across the border with Syria. Assad is clearly trying to avoid outright revolution in Hama and Deir Ezzor, but he is also redeploying his forces to the three most important cities to his survival.

In the words of Scott Lucas, "they're chasing mercury with a pin."

1200 GMT: Anthony Shadid of The New York Times adds another, very interesting piece to the puzzle of the Syrian regime's shifting strategy --- as the military locks down trouble areas in the northwest, it is pulling back from other significant locations:

The Syrian military and the government’s security forces have largely withdrawn from one of the country’s largest cities as well as other areas, residents and activists said Wednesday, leaving territory to protesters whose demonstrations have grown larger and whose chants have taunted a leadership that once inspired deep fear.

The military’s move out of Hama, where a government crackdown a generation ago made its name synonymous with the brutality of the ruling Assad family, has surprised even some activists and diplomats. They differ over how to interpret the government’s decision there, asking whether the departure points to a government attempt to avoid casualties and another potentially explosive clash in a restive country, or to an exhausted repressive apparatus stretched too thin.

But residents in Hama, the fourth largest city in Syria, have celebrated the departure as a victory that came after one of the worst bouts of bloodshed there in the nearly four-month uprising.

“Hama is a liberated city,” declared one activist who gave his name as Hainin.

Residents and activists say the military and security forces have also withdrawn from Abu Kamal, near the border with Iraq, and some suburbs of the capital, Damascus. In Dayr az Zawr, a large city in the east, the military has remained on the outskirts, although security forces are said to still be operating inside the city.

1150 GMT: Masdar Online reports that the Arhab tribe is asking Acting President Hadi to stop the attacks that have killed 20 people north of the capital Sana'a.

1120 GMT: A Syrian activist says the death toll from Wednesday's military operations (see 0510 GMT) has risen to 11, as the army spreads through a mountainous area near the Turkish border.

1115 GMT: Writing in The Guardian of London, Ahmed Benchebsi is sceptical about King Mohammed VI of Morocco's recent declaration of a process for reform:

To cut a long story short, the Moroccan king's absolutism, just like his "sacredness", has not gone. As for separation of powers, the king said it has been "bolstered" – and yet he still presides over the high council of magistrates, thus tightly controlling the courts of justice.

0855 GMT: In Egypt, the trial of two policemen charged over the slaying of Khaled Said, allegedly beaten to death in Alexandria in June 2010, has been postponed until 24 September.

Said's death was one of the catalysts for the uprising that eventually toppled the Mubarak regime, with young Egyptians using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to highlight his case.

The postponement occurred after lawyers for Said's family submitted a new independent autopsy that could change the charges from manslaughter to torture and murder.

Torture and murder charges carry life in prison or the death penalty, as opposed to 7 to 15 years for manslaughter.

0700 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration yesterday in Deir ez Zor in northeast Syria:

0635 GMT: Josh Landis, on his blog Syria Comment, reports that Iraq has announced that it will supply Syria with a "large" amount of extra oil to help it through economic crisis, accentuated by the political conflict.

0605 GMT: Reuters reports on Bahraini university students who are trying to get back into school after expulsions during the uprising against the regime.

Local rights groups say more than 400 mostly Shi'ite students have been dismissed from universities since February for participation in "unauthorised protests". Students describe officials used protesters' Facebook postings and YouTube videos to identify students who joined the demonstrations or criticized the regime.

One student describes the outcome, "I don't have class, I don't have work. So I work for the revolution. They stole my rights, my future, I will fight back," he said. "I have nothing to lose."

0600 GMT: An interesting claim from CNN's Ben Wedeman, "Women from Tripoli recently arrived in Misurata says some reluctant Qaddafi troops injuring themselves to avoid battle."

0510 GMT: We are keeping a close eye --- as best we can, given the restrictions on communications --- on the escalating military occupation in Syria. 

On Wednesday, troops and tanks moved into dozens of villages in the northwest, reportedly killing at least seven people. It appears that the military is concerned not only with locking down the area but with isolating Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city, to prevent the spread of protest there.

There were also operations yesterday in the south near the Daraa, one of the original flashpoints of the uprising in March against the Assad regime.

The Syrian developments competed yesterday for attention with the sudden re-emergence of open conflict in Egypt. More than five months after the start of the protests against former President Hosni Mubarak, the demonstrations in central Cairo had turned into an intense clash between security forces and protesters. By the time the fight eased yesterday, the area was litted with glass and stones, as activitists highlighted the use of tear gas by Egyptian police. The army was eventually brought in to seal off the area around the Ministry of Interior.

Which, of course, does not mean an end to the tension --- a photograph of a tree in Tahrir Square, the centre of the protests, covered by "demand notes".