Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "No Talks"

2119 GMT: We close the live-blog with news from Libya. Rebels launched a new military campaign in the west, near Nalut (noted earlier):

A rebel spokesman told Reuters that a small attack had been launched against pro-Gaddafi forces earlier on Wednesday, resulting in the destruction of three of their tanks. He said that Gaddafi's forces had fired Grad rockets, but that no casualties had been reported.

Meanwhile, the United states is reviewing a request from the National Transitional Council to open an embassy in Washington.

The rebels have been pledging to use Ramadan as an opportunity to refocus on toppling Gaddafi. The opposition in Syria and Bahrain, based on the spectacular video below, has similar ideas. Come back tomorrow and watch what happens, and thanks for reading ~ James Miller

2111 GMT: Night protests in Al Dair, Bahrain:

Night protests in Al Kawara, Bahrain:

Night protests in Qariya, Bahrain:

2105 GMT: Night protests in Homs (al Qusour district), Syria:

2059 GMT: Protesters in Harasta, the Damascus suburb where a funeral of a new martyr was held today, chant ""Who kills his own people is a traitor." (someone on Twitter suggests a better translation would be "He Who kills innocent people is a sick animal."

2054 GMT: Protesters in Binnish, Idlib Province, Syria, write in flame, "Welcome Ramadan, go away Bashar!" We've seen more evidence that protesters are using the holy month of Ramadan, characterized by spiritual quests, as a time to recommit to removing Bashar al Assad:

Night protests in Al Bukamal, Deir Ez Zor:

2020 GMT: Protests today in Sanabis, Bahrain:

2002 GMT: Video today, reportedly depicting demonstrations in Moadamiya (Damascus suburb), where protesters march in solidarity with Barzeh and the besieged cities:

1953 GMT: As if on cue, we discover this video, reportedly taken today, of Qasem's funeral-turned-protest in Harasta, Syria (see last update)

1947 GMT: The LCCS is reporting a funeral in Harasta, a Damascus suburb, where Mahmoud Qasem was killed near a checkpoint by security forces. According to the report, the funeral has become a protest.

1935 GMT: Back from a break to find news from Libya

Reuters is reporting that the rebels are planning a major offensive on the Western Front, near Nalut, with the intent to capture Ghezaia, near the Tunisian border:

A Reuters correspondent reports seeing at least 20 heavily armed trucks moving in the direction of the town of Nalut.

Another group of about 30 pickup trucks, camouflaged with mud, were seen congregating further east.

"We are reinforcing the position around Nalut and we will attack Ghezaia tomorrow or the next day for sure. We plan to take it," Omar Fakkan, a rebel commander, told Reuters.

He said that forces from several rebel-held towns in the mountains were gathering in Nalut in preparation for the attack.

1729 GMT: Belgian prosecutors have declined a request to investigate war crimes accusations agains NATO, filed by Colonel Gaddafi's daughter:

Aisha Gaddafi filed her lawsuit over an April bombing by NATO planes -charged with enforcing a United Nations-mandate no fly zone over Libya -on Moamer Gaddafi’s compound, which reportedly killed her infant daughter, brother and two nephews.

The charges are being dropped because the prosecutors claims they have no jurisdiction in the case.

1721 GMT: Al Jazeera posts this picture of anti-government protesters destroying a car in Ibb, Yemen. Earlier (1533) we reported that 3 protesters were killed there today.

1539 GMT: Another hitch in the negotiations with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi - The International Criminal Court is now saying that any government in Libya would have an "obligation" to turn Gaddafi over to the ICC:

"This is a legal issue," prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's office said in a statement. "Libya is not a state party to the [court's founding treaty] Rome Statute but it is a member of the United Nations. Therefore, according to Resolution 1970, the Libyan government has an obligation to implement the arrest warrants," the statement said. "Any future government will have the same obligation," it added.

1533 GMT: Three demonstrators in Ibb have been killed by gunment loyal to Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh. The protesters were chanting anti-regime slogans when they were shot. Witnesses on the scene also report that other protesters were shot at by gunmen after they attempted to remove pictures of Saleh that were positioned on top of a car. The police opened fire from inside a building. Protesters then surrounded the building, and despite the fact that the building was less than 100 meters from the Central Security Headquarters in the city, witnesses are saying that security forces made no attempt to intervene.

1513 GMT: CNN posts this handy checklist: Egypt, 6 months after Mubarak.

1439 GMT: Is the National Transitional Council really not willing to deal with Gaddafi, or is this a negotiating tactic? Al Jazeera has this update:

Mustafa Mohamed Abdel Jalil, the chief of the Libyan National Transitional Council, has said that a three-point offer that would have allowed Gaddafi to remain in the country if he ceded power has now expired.

Jalil said the offer was made about a month ago through Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, a UN envoy, with a two week deadline attached.

1403 GMT: The Guardian has posted the narrative of a rebel rescue operation that freed over 100 hostages and returned them to the city of Misurata (see video update at 1351 GMT).

1358 GMT: An update on the British recognition of the Libyan National Transitional Council as the official representatives of the Libyan people. The British government has unfrozen 91 million pounds of frozen assets, which can immediately be accessed by the NTC.

1351 GMT: Hoda Abdel-Hamid reports from Misurata, Libya, where rebels have executed a raid to recapture a group of families that have been expelled from the city by Gaddafi's forces:

1345 GMT: More details on the raid in Kanaker, Syria. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights:

The Observatory, which is based in Britain, said four tanks and a bulldozer entered Kanaker, 30-km (19 miles) southwest of the capital, while 14 other tanks surrounded the town.

It said residents threw stones and set fire to tires in an effort to block their advance, and shouted "God is greater" from rooftops.

1336 GMT: The regime may have pulled most of its security forces away from Hama, but the protesters aren't taking any chances. A second video of the fledgling opposition tank corps, because we got such a kick out of the first.

1329 GMT: In our last update, we posted video of a convoy moving into Kanaker, Damascus. The AFP is reporting that 11 people were killed in that raid, including a child, and at least 250 people were arrested.

The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria is already reporting the names of 8 of those killed, including an 11-year-old, Hamza Yaseen.

1319 GMT: James Miller takes the helm...

This video, uploaded by AJE, claims to show a convoy of Syrian soldiers and tanks moving into the Damascus suburb of Kanaker. It is similar to video, uploaded in yesterday's liveblog, showing convoys moving into Homs.

1040 GMT: A United Nations mission has assessed that the part of Libya controlled by the Qaddafi regime is beset by shortages in fuel, food, and cash.

The week-long mission found, "Although the mission observed aspects of normalcy in Tripoli, members identified pockets of vulnerability where people need urgent humanitarian assistance." It said the medical system is strained not only from casualties but also from the departure of thousands of foreign health workers. There are massive lines for gas at stations despite a fuel rationing system, and the mission quoted Libyan experts claiming that supplies might run out in two weeks.

The misison added, "There are also concerns over the unsustainable food supply chain for the public distribution systems, especially as Ramadan approaches and the conflict persists."

1015 GMT: Britain is expelling the remaining eight staff of the Libyan Embassy, effectively ejecting the regime following London's recognition of the opposition National Transitional Council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the expulsion showed Muammar Qaddafi that his "legitimacy has come to an end".

The Libyan Ambassador, Omar Jelban, was expelled in May after an attack on the British ambassador's residence in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Elsewhere in Europe, Italy has agreed to help the opposition develop its security apparatus, Minister of Interior Roberto Maroni said on Tuesday after meeting his counterpart from the National Transitional Council, Ahmed Hussein al-Darrat.

Al-Darrat also said the NTC wanted to work more closely with Italy to tackle a migration crisis caused by the violence in Libya.

In April, Italy was one of the first countries to recognise the NTC as the only legitimate representatives of the Libyan people.

0700 GMT: Amnesty International has called for action over the detention of the former president and vice-president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA) since the end of March.

Jalila al-Salman, Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, and several other board members of the BTA were arrested in March and April. While their colleagues were released, al-Salman and Abu Dheeb appeared before a military court) on 15 June on charges which include “inciting hatred towards the regime”, “calling to overthrow and change the regime by force”, “calling on parents not to send their children to school,” and “calling on teachers to stop working and participate in strikes and demonstrations”. After further hearings on 22 and 29 June, their trial was transferred to a civilian court and postponed until further notice.

Reviewing statements by the two detainees and the BTA, Amnesty concludes, "They are likely to be prisoners of conscience detained solely for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly."

0642 GMT: A Syrian activist said that hundreds of soldiers and plainclothes policemen moved into the Damascus suburbs of Zabadani and Moaddamiyeh on Tuesday. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also claimed dozens of people had been detained beginning late Monday, including many in the Damascus suburb of Khaddam.

Another human rights activist, Syria-based Mustafa Osso, said more than 200 people were sezied in the southern province of Daraa.

Abdel-Rahman said troops shot dead three civilians in central and northern Syria on Monday, including a woman who was shot when her husband did not stop his car at a checkpoint in the northwestern city of Idlib.

A Tuesday night demonstration in Lattakia on the coast:

0640 GMT: A children's march to Change Square, the centre of the protest against the Saleh regime, in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Tuesday:

0635 GMT: Claimed video, with English subtitles, of a statement by the defecting Syrian Lieutenant Colonel Abd al Settar Yunso:

0545 GMT: In Libya, there are currently three military front-lines: 1) outside Brega on the north-central coast; 2) between Zlitan and Misurata, east of Tripoli; 3) outside Qawalish, southwest of the capital. Occasionally, there is chatter of insurgent break-throughs but so far any advance has been gradual and fragile.

Politically, there is even less movement. On Tuesday, a UN envoy failed to make headway in talks with the Prime Minister, Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi. The envoy, Abdul Elah al-Khatib was told that NATO must end air strikes before any talks can begin and that Muammar Qaddafi's role as leader was non-negotiable.

Al-Khatib had arrived in Tripoli after discussions with the opposition in their base, Benghazi, in eastern Libya.  with rebels in their eastern stronghold of Benghazi on Monday. Al-Mahmoudi told a press conference after the meeting with the envoy, "This aggression needs to stop immediately, without that we cannot have a dialogue, we cannot solve any problems in Libya."