Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond): Finding the Dead in Idlib

Clashes on Saturday in AlEker in Bahrain, from police dispersing a funeral procession --- with detentions of youths and pushing of women --- to young people forcing the security forces to flee (see also 0814 GMT)

See also Syria Interview: Kurdish Leader Abdulhakim Bashar "We Demand the Right to Self-Determination"
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: An Exclusive in Zabadani, A Rally in the Kingdom

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2200 GMT: The Arab League has put forth a political roadmap for Syria, with President Assad delegating power to a deputy and setting up a unity government as a prelude to early Parliamentary and Presidential elections.

The League called on Assad to open discussions with other groups, including the opposition, within two weeks on the intiative. The new government would be formed within two months, electing a council that will write a Constitution and prepare for the elections.

Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference, after the meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, that the League would ask for the enforcement of the UN Security Council.

One observer, journalist Blake Hounshell, has noted the plan is similar to the approach taken by the Gulf Co-operation Council to resolve the Yemen crisis. The GCC put forth its call to President Saleh to transfer power in spring 2011; Saleh finally agreed in November and said today that he is leaving for the US for medical treatment.

2140 GMT: The US State Department has put out this statement about the Yemeni President, "Ali Abdullah Saleh's request to travel to the U.S. for medical treatment has been approved. As we have indicated, the sole purpose of this travel is for medical treatment and we expect that he will stay for a limited time that corresponds to the duration of this treatment. Specific questions regarding his travel plans should be directed to the Yemeni government."

1730 GMT: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has claimed that Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has instructed State TV not to any protest on 25 January, the one-year anniversary of the mass uprising against the Mubarak regime.

ANHRI said that staff of Egyptian Television protested the censorship, demonstrating in front of the state TV building on Friday against the demands made by Minister General Ahmed Anis. The Ministry allegedly said broadcasts should focus on pro-military demonstrations scheduled to take place in the Abbasseya neighborhood of Cairo.

1645 GMT: Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, the deputy head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, said today that he was resigning amid a series of protests against the NTC.

On Saturday, a crowd forced its way into the NTC's local headquarters in Benghazi, taking away computers and furnishing, while NTC head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil was inside (see 0639 GMT).

Ghoga told Al Jazeera, "My resignation is for the benefit of the nation and is required at this stage....I do not want this atmosphere [of hatred] to continue and negatively affect the National Transitional Council and its performance."

Sources in the NTC said Ghoga has not submitted a letter of resignation.

Abdul-Jalil, speaking at a news conference in Benghazi just before Ghoga announced he was resigning, appealed to the protesters to be patient: "We are going through a political movement that can take the country to a bottomless pit. There is something behind these protests that is not for the good of the country."

Abdul-Jalil continues, "The people have not given the government enough time and the government does not have enough money. Maybe there are delays, but the government has only been working for two months. Give them a chance, at least two months."

He said he had accepted the resignation of Benghazi's mayor, Saleh El-Ghazal, and promised elections to choose the successor.

1455 GMT: Officials report that the Arab League has agreed to extend its observer mission in Syria for another month.

The officials said the United Nations would train the monitors.

An activist comments, however, that the "decision" has not come from the gathering of Foreign Ministers the 22-nation League but from a leak: "The meeting hasn't even happened yet. Delayed until 18:00 or 19:00 (1600 or 1700 GMT) due to disagreements."

The special committee on Syria is taking the request for an extension --- from the head of the observers, Sudanese General Mohammad al-Dabi --- to the Foreign Ministers.

The initial mandate for the observers expired last week.

A demonstration at Aleppo University today calls out to President Assad, "The people want the execution of Bashar":

1445 GMT: According to officials, Yemen's President Saleh has given a "farewell speech" to his top political, military and security staff.

"God willing, I will leave for treatment in the United States and I will return to Sanaa as head of the General People's Congress party," the State news agency Saba quoted Saleh as telling the meeting.

The President supposedly continued, "I ask for pardon from all Yemeni men and women for any shortcoming that occurred during my 33-year rule and I ask forgiveness and offer my apologies to all Yemeni men and women. Now we must concentrate on our martyrs and injured."

In November Saleh signed a deal for the transfer of power but has not left despite periodic reports that he is going abroad. An aide said the President declared this morning, "I am leaving this good country, today. I want to bid you farewell from this place. I thank each one of you and offer my apology to the people and ask for forgiveness."

On Saturday, Yemeni officials said that Saleh intends to leave soon for Oman, en route to medical treatment in the US.

1400 GMT: An anti-regime demonstration in Hiyalin in Hama Province in Syria this morning:

1355 GMT: Thousands of Yemenis marched today to protest an immunity law protecting President Saleh from prosecution, demanding that he be put on trial for crimes during his 33-year rule.

The immunity deal, part of a package for a transition of power including elections on 21 February, was passed unanimously by Parliament this weekend.

1330 GMT: Pro-reform activists in Morocco have launched a new website, Rue20, with analyses such as "Morocco Charts Own Arab Spring".

1130 GMT: Claimed footage of Bahraini plainclothes officers seizing Yousif Qudrat, a senior opposition figure, on Saturday:

0822 GMT: As we try to piece together events in AlEker on Saturday amidst dramatic videos (see 0814 GMT), this footage from Nuwaidrat on Friday of police officers and a plainclothesman beating and kicking a detainee:

And security forces chase teenage protesters in Sadad, slapping one on the head:

0814 GMT: Gripping footage from Bahrain on Saturday --- after police suppress a march, seizing youths and pushing away women, the protesters strike back. Using rocks, sticks, and Molotovs, they force the officers to flee.

0714 GMT: Blogger Maikel Nabil is among 1959 prisoners, convicted by military courts, who will be released after an order by Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Nabil was arrested in March on charges of insulting the military after a blog post, "The Army and the People Were Never One Hand”, which accused the military of abusing the people during and after the uprising against President Mubarak.

See Egypt Feature: "The One Citizen" --- Political Prisoner Maikel Nabil's Powerful Critique

Nabil, who has been on a series of hunger strikes to protest his detention and treatment, was initially sentenced to three years in prison. The term was reduced to two years on appeal.

Around 12,000 Egyptians are believed to have been tried by military courts since President Mubarak handed over power to the SCAF on 11 February.

0646 GMT: The New York Times summarises the outcome of the three-stage elections for Egypt's lower house of Parliament. The coalition led by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won about 47% of the seats, while the coalition of the Salafist Nour Party took about 25%.

It remains to be seen whether the FJP and the Nour Party, considered more "conservative" in its interpretation of political Islam, will work together to form a "super-majority" in the legislature.

0639 GMT: Hundreds of Libyans stormed the National Transitional Council's headquarters in Benghazi, taking away computers, chairs, and desks while Libya's interim leader was still in the building.

The protesters reportedly broke through the compound's gates and banged on the doors, demanding officials meet with them. NTC head Mustafa Abdul-Jalil tried to address the crowd from a second-floor window, but the demonstrators began throwing bottles at him.

Protesters then torched Abdul-Jalil's armoured Land Cruiser and smashed windows to get into the headquarters. About 50 guards dressed as civilians tried to calm the crowds.

The demonstrators had pitched tents weeks ago outside the headquarters to protest election laws that they claimed were drafted without consulting the public.

"The election laws have not been approved by thousands of Libyans and do not honour those who died for our freedom," said lawyer Tamer Al Jahani. "We don't want to replace one tyrant with another."

0635 GMT: A dramatic clip, claiming to show Syrian forces attacking a funeral in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday:

0555 GMT: Saturday in Bahrain was marked by two funerals, one for a man reportedly killed by tear gas, another for a man allegedly beaten to death. Both were challenged by security forces, as was a march for political detainee Fadeela AlMubarak.

Meanwhile, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has released a report, sent to the International Committee of the Red Cross, on "Treatment of Political Detainees in Bahrain’s Prisons". Using interviews with former detainees and with families of prisoners, the report asserts, "The biggest complaints of mistreatment continue to be the poor access to health care, the continuing torture in local detention centres, and the denial of due process by not releasing political prisoners arrested for taking part in the 2011 uprising."

0530 GMT: Saturday's news from Syria was led by developments in Idlib Province.

Fourteen people died and 26 were wounded when a bus transporting prisoners exploded near Jisr al-Shughour, close to the Turkish border.

The cause is disputed. State media said the vehicle was ambushed. Activists said the regime had tried to "get rid of prisoners". Al Jazeera English's Zeina Khodr noted, "There are roadside bombs planted [by the opposition] all along the highway in that area. The police vehicle may have been targeted unintentionally."

Meanwhile, the opposition Local Coordinating Committees said 30 decomposed bodies were found in the main hospital in the city of Idlib. 

Idlib Province has been a centre of clashes, with the regime losing control of some areas amidst defections from its military. Saturday's incident followed reports of more fighting, with the opposition claiming that nine regime troops were killed. Activist Mohammad Fizzo said from the Turkish side of the border that regime forces, pursuing defectors, had raided the bordering villages of Ain al-Beida and Khorbat al-Joz.

Claimed video of defecting soldiers forming the "Omar Mukhtar Battalion":

Fighting was also reporting last night in the Damascus suburb of Douma, with the LCCS saying five people had been killed. The activists also said eight other people had been slain across the country: 1 in Deir Ez Zor, 4 in Homs, 1 in Raqqa, and 2 in Aleppo.