Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: How Long Can This Go On?

A rally in Bahrain calls for the hanging of detainees who allegedly killed policemen in March 2011 (see 1039 GMT)

See also Bahrain Video Feature: The Second "Manama March" and the Police Response
Morocco Feature: Will a Rapper's Release Be the Catalyst for More Protests?
Syria Opinion: The Assad Regime Cannot End this Crisis
Friday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Attack in Homs

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2127 GMT: Reuters has more on the attack by Syrian troops, backed by tanks, on Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon.

"Communications have been cut but we managed to get through to several people. Tanks are bombarding the town and have entered the outskirts, but they are being met with resistance. The Free Syrian Army (army defectors) has strong presence in the area," Kamal al-Labwani, a senior opposition figure from Zabadani who fled to Jordan two weeks ago, said.

Al-Labwani continued, "The people of Zabadani have taken up arms to protect themselves and I am afraid we could see lots of casualties. At least 50 tanks are involved in the attack and explosions are already being heard in residential areas."

2123 GMT: A large anti-regime rally in Abeen in Aleppo Province chants to President Assad, "The people want your execution, Bashar":

2026 GMT: The Syrian Uprising 2011 Information Centre reports that the death toll in Syria has risen to 13.

At least 13 martyrs have fallen today, and security forces are attacking the towns of Zabadani and Madaya (NE of Damascus) and again tried to inavde Khaldiyeh neighbourhood in Homs. The map shows all the protests we have so far and we are still updating it.

View Syria - Friday 13/01/2012 in a larger map

2021 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria report that Aleppo University is now under curfew after protests took place earlier today:

A number of people were injured and several students were arrested when security forces supported by a bus full of riot police and 4 cars full of shabiha (thugs) dispersed an anti-regime student demonstration in the university dormitories in Aleppo university, a curfew was imposed in there.

2010 GMT: A Kuwaiti activist shares this photo, which is described as showing, "Suppression of peaceful demonstrations for non-ID in Kuwait." EA cannot confirm the details in the description, though the picture was taken by AFP's Yasser al-Zayyat.

AFP has also posted a description of the incidents in Kuwait (also see update at 0935 GMT):

Several people were wounded and dozens arrested on Friday as Kuwaiti police used tear gas, water cannons and batons to disperse stateless protesters demanding citizenship, witnesses and a rights group said.

Hundreds of riot police backed by armoured vehicles assaulted several hundred protesters who defied an interior ministry warning not to demonstrate as the authorities promised to resolve their decades-old plight.

The ministry said later in a statement that 21 policemen were wounded when protesters hurled rocks at them, with 16 of them treated on the spot and the rest hospitalised. The statement said protesters ignored repeated police appeals to end the illegal demonstration and began throwing rocks and damaging public property, prompting police to intervene.

2003 GMT: The LCCS describes this video:

The siege of Shuhadaa (Martyrs) mosque in Sabonieh neighborhood in Hama and shooting and teargas.

1930 GMT: Bahrain: a tale of two protests - This first video was reportedly taken of an opposition march today.

In further news from Bahrain, this picture has emerged, taken earlier today at a pro-Government rally at Alfateh mosque in Juffair, a town located in the capital city of Manama. The mosque was built by Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who preceeded King Hamad as the Emir of Bahrain. It is named after Ahmed Al Fateh, the conqueror of Bahrain.

There is a disturbing aspect to this picture. In admist the pro-Government rally is a security officer in uniform, who appears to be taking part in the rally. This is just a single officer, but it raises very concerning questions, particularly given the brutal suppression of opposition protests in Manama last night and last week.

1915 GMT: The University of Edinburgh in the UK confirmed today that it has signed a "co-operation agreement" with Bahrain's Ministry of Education. Whilst the University claims that the deal is purely to further higher education in the country, many have noted the complicity of the Ministry of Education in the repressive acts that were witnessed across Bahrain last year.

Dr. Mike Diboll, a British academic who was based at the University of Bahrain between 2007 and 2010, has written an open letter to the University of Edinburgh condemming the deal and calling on them to reconsider. In the paragraphs from his letter below Dr Diboll recounts what he witnessed:

Further, I have personal experience of the viciousness and unprofessionalism of which the Bahrain Ministry of Education is capable. At witness to a violent sectarian confrontation at the UoB campus on 13th March 2011, I resigned from BTC/UoB when it became clear that the human and civil rights situation on- and off-campus made ethical professional practice in Bahrain impossible. A key factor in this was an Order of Communication I received dated 3rd May 2011 stated:

“…2. Action taken by MOE/Gov’t: a. Over 30 BTC students have been detained, including 3 females b. The vocational education program is terminated; the students dismissed or detained. c. Several staff members have been investigated; their computers searched. d. Mr. Ibrahim has been dismissed. e. Student, staff & faculty Facebook pages have been reviewed; as have postings on Utube [sic]. 4. Discussions regarding students: a. Take advantage of the events to dismiss all failing students b. Provide a studies skills course through Tom’s dept. for students on probation or warning….” c. Reduced numbers of new BTC students will eliminate problems”

Principal O’Shea and Rector McColl, I ask you to focus especially on item 4.a above. This OoC was distributed at a time when ANY association with anti-government activities could very well have resulted in the detention or worse of students. Without substantial verifiable evidence of reform from observers external to Bahrain, do you really think that it is appropriate for and in the best interest of the University of Edinburgh to have any sort of relationship, direct or indirect, with Bahrain government organisations, or higher education institutions that report directly to it?

In a related story, earlier today Maryam Abu Deeb, gave an update on her father, Mahdi Abu Deeb. Mahdi, Mahdi, who was the President of the Bahraini Teachers Society before it was abolished by the Ministry of Education last year, is currently serving 10 years in prison for speaking out against the regime. Mahdi was arrested in April last year and held in solitary confinement for nearly two months, until his eventual sentencing on September 25th. There have been many credible reports of his torture whilst in detention and his continued mistreatment by the Bahraini State has been a cause of concern for many human rights campaigners.

Maryam relayed the following account on twitter two hours ago:

o what happened in Jaw's prison is that they called my dad and other educators for a meeting
In the filmed meeting they asked them if they would like to volunteer to teach the detained students
They also asked them about the resources they need in order to start teaching
They promised to provide the resources by Thursday (yesterday)
Dad called earlier today to tell us that the whole meeting was for the sake of documenting it
In order to give a better image about the prison and when dad asked about the resources he didn't get a feedback

With the Bahrain government constantly trying to present a false image of the reality in the country, assisted by several PR companies, Maryam's report for today is potentially significant. The Bahrain government has been playing up its willingness to implement the findings of the BICI report and its claims to be working on rebuilding and restoring civic society. The treatment of political prisoners, as well as the role of the Ministry of Education, have been key aspects of this. It remains to be seen whether they prison authorities do eventually provide the resouces they promised, or whether this was purely a public relations setup to project further fictions.

1752 1852 GMT: Readers of EA's Iran coverage know that the Islamic Republic is going through a currency crisis. Well, the currency devaluation problem in Iran and the uprising in Syria is, in turn, causing a "currency attack" in Iraq, as US dollars are being bought there and sold on the black market to Iraq's neighbors.

Demand for the greenback at the central bank auctions has risen since November to about $ 200mn to $ 300mn a day, compared with about $ 160mn in the prior 12 months, the deputy central bank governor, Mudher Salih, said in an interview in Baghdad on Tuesday.

“Now we are checking the applications to buy dollars from the auctions more closely.

We are afraid that some of it may be related to money laundering,” Salih said. “We are now under a currency attack because of the regional situation.”

1734 GMT: EA's news team has been holding on to an impressive video for several hours. We are now able to confirm many of its details.

The following video was reportedly taken in the Akramiye neighborhood in Aleppo. We've also conferred with a reliable activist who believes this video is genuine and says that this video was taken north of the Aleppo International Stadium.

This video is significant. So far, it is clearly the largest anti-government protest in Aleppo that we have seen, perhaps aside from some of the protests on the campus of Aleppo University. Secondly, the protest is in a fairly central neighborhood.

Perhaps most importantly, however, this event was not isolated. As we've posted below, large protests also took place on the campus of the university, and several other large protests have happened in previous nights. Also, the LCCS and some other activists are reporting that protests in Aleppo and some of its suburbs have lasted into the night.

1722 GMT: EA Correspondent John Horne reports on Bahrain:

Bahrain. On Wednesday we reported that the Brazillian foreign ministry has announced it will investigate the sale of tear gas to Bahrain. Tear gas manufactured by Brazillian company Condor Technologies was fired on both protesters and civilians were identifed last year. The Foreign Ministry said it will examine whether there was a breach of contract by Condor Technologies, as it would have been illegal for them to export directly to Bahrain without authorisation from the government. Both Condor Technologies and the Brazillian Foreign Ministry state that no tear gas has been sold to Bahrain. Reporting this, and presumably citing to government and company opinion, O Globo newspaper wrote:

"The most likely hypothesis, however, is that the gas was used by one of the other five monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council, led by Saudi Arabia, which sent troops to Bahrain in March 2011 to support the King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa."

In Bahrain last night a tear gas cannister manufactured by Condor Technologies was allegedly fired inside the house of a Bahraini citizen last night. The individual posted an image of the cannister online:

This cannister is the same model - GL-202 - as was found in Bahrain last year.

This potentially suggests one of two things:

   (1) Condor Technologies has exported tear gas to Bahrain, probably through a third country. The company has confirmed that it has clients in the region, but has to date refused to identify them.
   (2) To quote the above article again: "the gas was used by one of the other five monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council, led by Saudi Arabia".

Either way, the discovery of the cannister last night makes it essential that the Brazillian foreign ministry gets to the bottom of how tear gas manufactured by Condor Technologies got to Bahrain.

1550 GMT: In the last 10 minutes, the LCCS have made multiple updates about the embattled city of Homs. A man was reportedly shot by a sniper on Wady Al-Arab Street, in the Bayada district, a Red Crescent paramedic was reportedly shot in the foot in the In'shaat neighborhood (see a map of Homs), and then there is a report that the suburb of Houle is under attack:

Homs: Hawleh: Loud explosions along with artillery shelling can be heard in the city. Heavy fire from the security forces RPG’s and machine guns are targeting anti-regime demonstrations in the city

1542 GMT: One neighborhood in Aleppo has been the site for several large protests in recent weeks. In the last two days, there have been several reports of large evening demonstrations in the Marja district of Aleppo. Today, a source shares a video, reportedly showing a large group of police marching down a central street in the district to deter protests and arrest any dissidents they find.

1535 GMT: With the death in Dumair, the deathtoll in Syria, according to the Local Coordinating Committees, has risen to 8, "including two children, two martyrs in each of Homs and Aleppo, and a martyr in each of Hama, Deir Ezzor, Daraa and Dumair in Damascus Suburbs."

1530 GMT: LCCS is also reporting that the Damascus suburb of Zabadani is being attacked by shells and machinegun fire. Injuries are reported.

1525 GMT: Only moments ago, the LCCS reported that the suburb of Dumair, Syria, has been raided by security forces, and at least one person has been killed:

Martyrdom of Qasem Saad (22 years old) and fall of more than 7 wounded after storming the city by security forces supported by 7 buses, cars, and armored vehicles under heavy gunfire from machine guns and heavy weapons. Sounds of several explosions heard in the town. Snipers ascend on high buildings and reports of additional military elements defected.

1515 GMT: Several impressive videos have surfaced from the city of Idlib, Syria. This crowd releases balloons into the air with protest messages written on them. The second video claims to show Arab League observers watching the protest from a balcony:

1504 GMT: This video taken yesterday, uploaded by Reuters, shows a destroyed Armored Personnel Carrier in Homs. On Thursday, EA posted many exclusive videos, including an hour-long live stream, which showed a battle between the Free Syrian Army and soldiers loyal to the regime.

1446 GMT: Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, there has been a degree of disunity among the Syrian expatriates, and no clear organization emerged as the representative for the Syrian opposition. That appears to be changing. Yesterday, the Syrian National Council reaffirmed its support of the Free Syrian Army, and announced that it was structurally reorganizing that relationship to strengthen that tie.

In addition, the SNC and the FSA will establish direct communications to ensure that the FSA always remains up-to-date on the political situation and regional and international positions. By establishing common knowledge, the SNC and the FSA can achieve more effective coordination, thereby providing optimal support to the Syrian revolution.

The SNC intends to establish a liaison office with the FSA to maintain direct, around-the-clock communications. The SNC will also organize round table discussions and workshops on political analyses for pro-revolution military personnel, and will cooperate with the FSA in circulating news, press releases, and public statements.

This development came on the eve of today's protests, in solidarity with the Free Syrian Army, and during a point in time where defections appear to be on the rise and the FSA appears to be stepping up its fight against the Syrian regular army.

This move is designed to give the FSA a political face, but more importantly it strengthens the hand of the SNC, which has struggled to gain the respect from the international community and some Syrian expatriates. That respect is absolutely essential if outside nations are to consider any sort of intervention.

1437 GMT: More from Aleppo - this video, taken by a different camera and a different angle than our last, claims to show the protest outside the dormitories at Aleppo University. The crowd is large. The significant claim, however, is that activists are saying the crowd was dispersed by gunfire. At the very end of the video, there is a bang, and it's hard to tell, but it could be a gunshot, flash grenade, or teargas canister.

A third video shows the protesters chanting, among other things, for the execution of the president.

1430 GMT: Already, the Local Coordinating Committees report that more people have been killed by security forces, despite the presence of foreign journalists in some areas, and despite the presence of Arab League observers in others. So far, LCCS report 6 have been killed, "including two children, two martyrs in Aleppo, and one martyr in each of Hama, Deir Ezzor, Homs, and Daraa."

Al Jazeera is reporting that 8 were killed so far.

Speaking of foreign journalists, LCCS report that two journalists have been detained in Douma, and have had their cameras confiscated. So far, this is the first we've heard of this report.

1420 GMT: A much better picture of the protests in the Mezzeh district of Damascus (see update at 1354 GMT):

1414 GMT: An important video - according to the description, a protest began on the campus of Aleppo University, and was broken up by security. At the start of the video, a large amount of students appear to be fleeing. It's hard to make out exactly what happens, but it appears that some students are attacked afterwards.

1401 GMT: Meanwhile, many of the suburbs that ring Damascus, where many of those who work inside the capital live, appear to be hosting extremely large and vibrant protests today. So far, the most impressive video of the day appears to show a very large protest in the important suburb of Arbeen:

1354 GMT: Any protests in Damascus are important. For months, the standard logic of Syrian analysts has been that the capital city supports the Assad regime, and the capital is also heavily secured by Assad-loyal forces, and thus large protests are not going to happen. Yet protests in Midan are now routine, where as 6 months ago they were unheard of. Midan is not, however, the only place where protests have been occurring.

A good-sized crowd has begun to protest in the Mezzeh district, according to the Coalition of Free Damascenes For Peaceful Change, which reports that an "anti government demonstration kicked off outside al-Farouk mosque in the Mazzeh area of Damascus in solidarity with al-Mustafa area of Mazzeh."

Also, these videos were reportedly taken in the Jobar district, where heavy security reportedly sealed off several mosques this morning in an attempt to deter protests. According to activists, the area is under heavy scrutiny by the regime. However, protesters still chanted, among other things, "The people want the execution of the President," and other chants in support of the Free Syrian Army:

1333 GMT: James Miller takes the liveblog, with a big thank you to Scott Lucas for taking us through the morning.

Large demonstrations have taken place across the country of Syria, with the major theme being the support of the Free Syrian Army, the defectors who are now fighting daily battles against the Syrian regular army, which is still loyal to Assad.

This crowd is reportedly protesting today in Taibet al Imam, Hama province:

The back streets of Midan, Damascus, a central neighborhood that is now the center of unrest in Syria's capital:

Activist Rami al Jarrah has also collected three videos, taken today in Daraa province. So far, protests appear large, and widespread.

1225 GMT: The Bahraini Cabinet has announced the approval of "two key laws to implement its zero tolerance policy towards torture and as part of its commitment to fully implement the BICI [Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry] recommendations".

The two amendments to the Penal Code "protect persons who raise claims of torture or other forms of inhumane treatment" and "ensure that these complaints are swiftly and appropriately investigated and prosecuted by the Attorney-General rather than the police".

In November, the BICI report found that individual members of the security forces had tortured detainees and that regime officials should have acted to prevent this.

Bahraini officials have also said that work has begun to rebuild 12 mosques that were demolished since the start of protests last February.

The BICI report said that, while mosque demolitions were not illegal, the Government's destruction of dozens of places of worship had contributed to tensions.

1110 GMT: An EA source reports that hundreds of Saudi Arabian soldiers and police raid the city of Awamya, north of Qatif, in the Eastern Province, killing one and injuring at least three protesters.

Witnesses reported truck-mounted machine guns opening fire on demonstrators.

There have been sustained protests in the Eastern Province, home to most of Saudi Arabia's Shi'a minority, against the authority of the regime.

1049 GMT: Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal El Ganzoury has announced that the families of 669 people killed and 3200 injured since last January's uprising against the Mubarak regime have received compensation. He said that the rest will be compensated before 25 January.

El Ganzoury said those compensated include families of dead and injured in clashes in Cairo since last October. He claimed that the Government has been working on forming a national council dedicated to the Revolution’s martyrs and wounded but asserted that objections by youth activists had impeded the process.

1039 GMT: A crowd at Al Fateh Mosque in Bahrain --- supporters claim 3500 in attendance --- has criticised the political instability in the country and the Government's handling of the situation. The rally also called for the abolition of Government corruption and for better living standards for Bahrainis:

Demonstrators sign a petition calling for "implementation of the law":

0953 GMT: More than a year after unemployed vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire, spurring the uprising against the Ben Ali regime in Tunisia, the BBC reports on another wave of self-immolations in the country.

0950 GMT: The Financial Times reports on a serious situation in Syria:

Severe shortages of subsidised gas and heating oil, known as mazut, are now plaguing the country. Syrians say mazut can still be found on the black market, but at up to double the usual price of S£15 a litre, while the cost of cooking gas is said to have nearly trebled from S£300 to S£900 for a standard cannister. A Damascus resident said he had seen fights breaking out at a gas distribution truck. A young Syrian man whose family is in the southern city of Deraa, where the uprising began, said residents were struggling to cope “without cars, without gas, without oil”. He said: “People are using wood to make campfires, like 30 years ago.” Although a crude oil producer, Syria lacks enough refining capacity to meet domestic demand for products such as diesel, heating oil and liquefied petroleum gas. According to the US Department of Energy, refineries in Banias and Homs are able to process only four-fifths of total local demand for products in peacetime. That proportion has dived even lower after rebels blew up pipelines feeding the plant in Homs, analysts say.

0945 GMT: Another demonstration in Bahrain on Thursday (see also 0630 GMT), as protesters lie down on Budaiya Highway:

0940 GMT: A Turkish Foreign Ministry official has said that a Russian ship, thought to be carrying a cargo of munitions, reached Syria on Thursday after an inadequate inspection in Cyprus: “The Cypriot officials not only falsely included Turkey as the vessel’s destination, which seems to be originally Syria, but also failed in examining the vessel thoroughly to see whether it carried arms as speculated.”

0935 GMT: Human Rights Watch has published a 63-page report, "Prisoners of the Past: Kuwaiti Bidun and the Burden of Statelessness", claiming that Kuwait has not fulfilled decades of promises to address the citizenship claims of more than 106,000 stateless Bidun residents.

The report asserts that the Bidun live under the radar of normal society, impoverished, vulnerable, and without protection as "illegal residents". They have been denied essential documentation, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, as well as access to free government schools and legal employment opportunities.

0930 GMT: Last week, we featured an article from The New York Times that the Obama Administration had decided to engage with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, as the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party led voting for the country's new Parliament.

A brief item from Ikhwan Web testifies to the strategy: "Dr. Mohamed Morsi, Chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Wednesday afternoon, met with Mr. William Burns, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State, at the FJP’s temporary headquarters in Manyal Alrodah."

0630 GMT: After a week of high-profile events --- Arab League observers, President Assad's speech, and more killings, including that of a French journalists --- little has changed in Syria. As we move to another Friday of protests and responses by the security forces, EA's James Miller offers his opinion: "The Assad Regime Cannot End This Crisis".

The opposition Local Coordinating Committees claimed that 25 people died on Thursday, including two defecting soldiers. It asserted that there was artillery shelling and heavy fire in Ma'arat al-Numan in the northwest when the military challenged soldiers who announced their defection from the army.

"We've Seen This Before" also struck in Bahrain on Thursday. For the second time in six days, protesters tried to walk through the capital Manama. For the second time, they were confronted by security forces who attempted to dissuade them and then fired tear gas, although unlike the last occasion, they did not go as far as to beat Nabeel Rajab, the prominent activist at the head of the march (see our separate feature, "The Second 'Manama March' and the Police Response".

Meanwhile, protests continued in other villages --- footage from Duraz: