Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Referendum Amidst the Deaths

Residents of Baba Amr in Homs, under siege for the 24th straight day, stage their version of Sunday's referendum on a new Constitution

See also Turkey Special: The Government Supports a Hyper-Nationalist --- and Threatening --- Protest
Sunday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "I'm So Hungry. I Think I Will Die" --- Then the Line Went Dead

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2153 GMT: At the end of the day, the two Western journalists who remain injured in the Baba Amr district of Homs have not been rescued. However, the Red Cross did manage to remove three injured Syrians from the besieged district:

A negotiator in the evacuation efforts said they fell through "at the last minute after ambulances had entered Baba Amr" but declined to specify if regime forces or rebels had blocked the operation.

2146 GMT: The on-line magazine Mother Jones has received a document that they say was leaked from someone inside the Syrian government and contains more than 700 pages of names of activists who have been placed on a government "kill list." A series of experts whom Mother Jones shared the document with believe it is genuine:

Joshua Landis, a scholar on Syria who has consulted for the State Department and other US government agencies, said he thinks the document merges the records of several Syrian intelligence agencies in order to better coordinate the crackdown. "This is what a secret service does," he said. Actions allegedly taken by individuals in the document—such as setting up a roadblock near Homs or issuing instructions about how to attack a Syrian military outpost—are "the kind of thing that people get whacked for all the time, or at least tortured for."

2141 GMT: The EU passed more sanctions targeting Syria today, targeting key Assad ministers, freezing assets of Syria's central bank, and banning cargo flights and trade in precious metals. The names of the officials will be released tomorrow.

2133 GMT: A series of videos tell a narrative from Sarmin, Idlib province. Earlier we reported that Binnish, Ma'arrat al Nouman, and Sarmin were under attack by Syrian tanks and artillery (update 1130 GMT). A series of videos shows the attack on Sarmin. The first, the tanks arrive, panicking the residents. Next, one tank opens fire, nearly hitting the cameraman:

Next, the aftermath - beyond this video, the Sham News Network has also posted many videos of the dead in Sarmin. Remember, however, that activists say that similar scenes played out in many towns in Idlib province today:

2116 GMT: According to the description of the video, this tank's crew have defected and joined the Free Syrian Army in Homs. The activists cheer as the tank hammers away at what appears to be a high-walled building, similar in design to other security buildings we've seen in Homs:

2107 GMT: This video, reportedly taken earlier today, shows the destruction of a mosque by artillery shells in the Baba Amr district of Homs:

2034 GMT: This videos was, according to the cameraman, taken today in Hraytan, near Aleppo, and it reportedly shows a gunfight between the Free Syrian Army and pro-Assad forces:

2000 GMT: Back from a lunch/research break to find some grim confirmation of a grisly event in Homs, Syria.

Earlier today there was a report circulating that at least 62 people, including entire families, were detained by pro-Assad soldiers as they tried to flee Homs, and the families were then subsequently murdered when the soldiers learned that they were from the Baba Amr district.

Now, the LCCS (which received the reports earlier), has confirmed this event, and is now reporting that at least 125 people have been killed across Syria,

"including 64 victims from Baba Amr neighborhood who were murdered in Abel area in Homs, 4 defected recruits, 3 women and 3 children. In Homs, 89 martyrs fell, 9 in Aleppo suburbs, 15 in Idlib suburbs, 4 in Hama suburbs, 4 in Damascus suburbs and one martyr in each of Damascus, Hasaka, Raqqa and Daraa."

1750 GMT: The Russian state-owned media group RIA Novosti, citing the Israeli intelligence group DEBKAfile, reports that the Russian government has upgraded radar installations in Syria and Lebanon that could help block air strikes against both Iran and Syria.

As a result, the radars are now capable of tracking “U.S. and Israeli naval and aerial movements in the Eastern Mediterranean up to and including Cyprus and Greece.”

“Moscow decided to boost its radar tracking and surveillance reach for Iran’s benefit in response to a complaint from Tehran that it could not longer count on Russia for a real-time alert on an incoming U.S. or Israeli military strike, because those resources were stretched to the limit in support of the Assad regime,” DEBKAfile said citing its sources in the U.S. military.

The report is interesting. Coming from an Israeli source, it could perhaps be dismissed as an effort to put international pressure on Russia. Coming from a Russian source, it could be seen as a show of strength, a warning to those plotting strikes against Syria and/or Iran.

1714 GMT: According to the opposition network, the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, 46 people have been killed by security forces across the country today:

22 martyrs fell in Homs, 7 in Aleppo countryside, 6 in the countryside of Idlib, 4 in the countryside of Hama, 3 in Damascus Suburbs and one martyr in each of Damascus, Hasakah, Raqqa and Daraa.

1710 GMT: A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross has reached another important city in Syria, Hama, for the first time in over a month:

Hicham Hassan, an International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman in Geneva, said a joint team of the ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent brought an emergency delivery of food and other items for 12,000 people. He told the Associated Press news agency it was the first time the aid group has been able to enter Hama since Jan. 17.

The city has been hard hit by a government crackdown and villages and towns nearby frequently witness anti-government protests and clashes between troops and military defectors.

1550 GMT: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani said today that he favours delivering arms to the Syrian opposition: "We should do whatever necessary to help them, including giving them weapons to defend themselves.....I think they're right to defend themselves by weapons and I think we should help these people by all means."

1500 GMT: A mass funeral in Idlib in northwestern Syria for two victims of the security forces:

Tanks patrol in the Damascus suburb of Douma:

1450 GMT: In Yemen, incoming President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, accompanied by his predecessor Ali Abdullah Hadi, addresses the public --- Hadi was elected last week as the only candidate after Saleh's 33-year rule:

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1450 GMT: The Syrian Minister of Interior has announced that 89.4% of voters casting ballots on Sunday support the new Constitution.

Major General Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar said that almost 7.5 million of the 8,376,447 voters --- a 57.4% turnout --- approved the changes.

1250 GMT: More than 20% of funds in the Syrian banking system have been withdrawn since the start of the political crisis last March.

According to the latest financial accounts from Syria's 14 listed banks, 95.6 billion Syrian pounds ($1.67 billion) have been move, mainly to the Gulf region and Europe, At the end of 2010 the banks had 442 billion pounds ($7.71 billion) on deposit, but this fell 21.6% to 346.4 billion ($6.04 billion).at the end of 2011.

1130 GMT: BBC reporter Ian Pannell says Syrian security forces launched artillery attacks, including firing from anti-aircraft weapons, on Binnish in northwestern Syria this morning.

Pannell said the bombardment appears to be entirely random, hitting civilian areas rather than targeting insurgent positions.

The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria said Sarmin, south of Binnish, also had been shelled and that tanks were preparing to storm it. It added that Maarat al-Numan, south of the city of Idlib, had been attacked, with several tanks entering the town.

1127 GMT: More than 20 members of the opposition Syrian National Council have separated to form the Syrian Patriotic Group, calling for the arming of the insurgency.

The new group is headed by Haitham al-Maleh, a lawyer and former judge who has resisted the regime of President Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, since 1970. He is joined by Kamal al-Labwani, an opposition leader who was jailed for six years and released in December; human rights lawyer Catherine al-Talli; Fawaz al-Tello, an opposition operative with links to the Free Syrian Army rebels; and Walid al-Bunni, who was among the most outspoken figures on the council responsible for foreign policy.

A statement declared, "Syria has experienced long and difficult months since the Syrian National Council was formed without it achieving satisfactory results or being able to activate its executive offices or adopt the demands of the rebels inside Syria. The previous mode of operation has been useless. We decided to form a patriotic action group to back the national effort to bring down the regime with all available resistance means including supporting the Free Syrian Army."

1125 GMT: The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that efforts to re-enter the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs in Syria continue. The ICRC said that a joint team of Red Cross and the Syrian Red Crescent had brought in an emergency delivery of aid for 12,000 people.

0900 GMT: An activist in Homs in Syria reports "violent clashes ongoing since early morning" between the Free Syrian Army and regime forces near the Old Clock Square in the centre of the city.

of #Homs to decrease pressure on #BabaAmr

Another activist reports seven civilians killed by regime shelling in the Baba Amr neighbourhood this morning.

Footage of today's shelling:

0900 GMT: Another item from the Syrian State news agency on Sunday's referendum --- curiously, SANA appears more concerned with its own legitimacy than that of the vote:

President Bashar al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad on Sunday voted on the draft of the new constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic at the TV and Radio Center in Damascus.

President al-Assad hailed, in a statement following the voting, the great efforts exerted by the Syrian media, highlighting the progress made by the Syrian television and the Syrian media in general.

"However, comparisons always come up in which the Syrian media, which is mainly the official media, is being compared to the non-official media in other countries," said the President, dismissing this comparison as "inaccurate, non-objective and not possible."

President al-Assad said official media should be compared to official media in other countries since the goals and tasks of official media are different from those of private media.

"If we compare the Syrian official media now to its counterparts in the region, I believe it is the best," the President stressed, adding that "nonetheless, we are not interested in comparing ourselves to those who are less, and we will keep comparing ourselves to those who are better."

0545 GMT: We open today with an extract from the report of Syrian State news agency SANA:

Syrian citizens voted on the new draft resolution of Syria, with poll centers witnessing increasing turnout as the hours passed, reflecting the citizens' keenness on moving forward with the reform process.

Since 7 AM, eligible voters began flocking to the 14185 poll centers which were opened across Syrian governorates and at border crossings, airports and the Syrian desert.

The committees tasked with overseeing the referendum process began tallying votes in all centers as soon as voting ended.

Minister of Interior Mohammed al-Shaar on Sunday said that the polling process on the new draft constitution runs normally in the most of provinces, adding that the polling centers witness huge turnout of the citizens except in some areas. 

A number of citizens told SANA reporters after voting that their participation in the referendum reflects their support to the comprehensive reform program, asserting that the new constitution establish a new future for Syria.

In Damascus, the polling centers witnessed remarkable participation in the referendum process. Participants in the referendum expressed confidence that the constitution fortifies the workers' status and enhances their role in building the renewable Syria, asserting that they voted freely and transparently.

The activists of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria have a different focus for their lead story:

The number of martyrs in Syria has risen to 55 so far including 5 children. 23 martyrs have fallen in Homs, 9 in Hama, 7 in Daraa (in the towns of Alama, Um Walad, Nawa, Tafas and Sheikh Maqsood); also 11 martyrs have fallen in the towns of Idlib province (Saraqeb, Ibleen, Basqala and Afes), in addition to 3 martyrs in Kafr Souseh, and 1 martyr in Jobar which are neighbourhoods in the capital Damascus; also there is 1 martyr Qatana in Damascus Suburbs.