Iraq Feature: Amid Rising Protests, CIA Expands Co-operation with "Anti-Terrorism" Units (Wall Street Journal)

The Central Intelligence Agency is ramping up support to elite Iraqi antiterrorism units to better fight al Qaeda affiliates, amid alarm in Washington about spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria, according to U.S. officials.

The stepped-up mission expands a covert U.S. presence on the edges of the two-year-old Syrian conflict, at a time of American concerns about the growing power of extremists in the Syrian rebellion.

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Syria Live Coverage: Iraqi Insurgents Claim Killing of 48 Regime Troops

2020 GMT: Rebels Take Series of Bases Southwest of Damascus. Since Friday, rebels have overwhelmed and captured several regime bases southwest of Damascus on the road to Daraa province. Confirming the specific locations has been hard to do, but we know that the bases are in the Kiswah area (map), and to the south of this suburb as well.

We've heard from some sources that some of the Surface-to-Air missiles sites in the area were decommissioned. However, videos from the base of the 137th regiment appear to show fully-functional missiles there (hat tip to Brown Moses for sending us this Youtube channel):

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Iran Live Coverage: Looking for Energy Deals

Iran Live Coverage: "UN Human Rights Investigator Bribed by US", Regime Claims

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2105 GMT: All the President's Men (Trial Edition). Presidential advisor Saeed Mortazavi has been in the second court hearing in his trial for complicity in the abuse and murder of post-election protesters in Kahrizak detention centre in summer 2009.

Mortazavi, who was Tehran Prosecutor General at the time, claimed he was on vacation during the time of Kahrizak. He also questioned the competence of the judge to hear the case.

Mortazavi's defence will continue tomorrow.

Abdolhossein Ruholamini, the conservative political advisor whose son was killed in Kahrizak, said Mortazavi showed no sign of regret and will tell "untold details" in the next court session.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Policemen on Strike

A woman runs for cover during clashes in Port Said in Egypt on Thursday (Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP)

See also US Audio Feature: Drones and Senator Paul's "False Drama" Filibuster --- Scott Lucas with Monocle 24
Syria Live Coverage: Opposition Leaders Cancel Trip to Washington --- Why?
Thursday's Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Court Suspends Parliamentary Elections

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2011 GMT:Iraq. Minister of Agriculture Ezz al-Din al-Dawla quit today over the killing of a protester in the northern city of Mosul.

Police said they fired shots into the air to disperse a crowd of stone-throwing demonstrators.

Ezz al-Din al-Dawla is the second Iraqi minister to announce his resignation over the handling of mainly-Sunni protests, staged daily against the al-Maliki Government since December.

"I announce my resignation before the Iraqi people and my people in Mosul because there is no way to continue any longer with a government that does not respond to my people's demands," said Dawla, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiyya Bloc, in a televised news conference.

Minister of Finance Rafa al-Issawi, whose home and offices were raided by security forces in December, quit earlier this month.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets again in the cities of Mosul, Samarra, and Kirkuk and in Anbar Province on Friday. They again demanded the release of detainees and the scrapping of anti-terrorism laws they say are unfairly used against them.

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Iraq Feature: The US Pentagon is Linked to Torture Centres (The Guardian/BBC Arabic)

The 5-minute trailer for the full Guardian/BBC documentary

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The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the "dirty wars" in Central America to oversee sectarian police commando units in Iraq that set up secret detention and torture centres to get information from insurgents. These units conducted some of the worst acts of torture during the US occupation and accelerated the country's descent into full-scale civil war.

Watch the full Guardian/BBC Arabic documentary

Colonel James Steele was a 58-year-old retired special forces veteran when he was nominated by Donald Rumsfeld to help organise the paramilitaries in an attempt to quell a Sunni insurgency, an investigation by the Guardian and BBC Arabic shows.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Top Mubarak Ally Sentenced to 37 Years in Prison

1900 GMT: Bahrain. Claimed footage of police firing tear gas at three women:

1730 GMT: Libya. The car of Mohamed Magarief, the head of the General National Congress, came under fire in Tripoli as he left a chaotic session of the assembly disrupted by protesters.

There were no casualties.

The Minister of Interior, Ashur Shwayel said the gunmen were demanding that legislators pass a bill barring former associates of ousted leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Magarief survived a gun attack at his home in January.

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Syria Live Coverage: Fighting on the Iraq Border

Extract from President Assad's interview with Sunday Times of London (see 0800 GMT)

See also Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Minister of Finance Tries to Resign Amid Financial Crisis
Saturday's Syria Live Coverage: The Fighting Around Aleppo

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2205 GMT: Casualties. Footage, with graphic images of the wounded, has been posted of the aftermath of regime shelling of the Damascus suburb of Douma.

1840 GMT: Elections in Insurgent-Held Areas. A vote has been held to elect 29 council members for insurgent-held areas in Aleppo Province.

"For the first time, Aleppo will have a freely elected provincial council. We hope the whole of Syria will have a free election soon," candidate Yehia Naanaa from Hreitan said.

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Iran Special: How To Create an "Iranian Threat in Iraq" Story (Hat Tip: Washington Post)

"Iran Threat" stories are far from rare. The articles on Tehran and the Bomb have the highest profile, but those on Iranian subversion and support of terrorism are also prominent.

But what happens if you dig into these headline stories? Are they real or do they become "real" because of the narratives and beliefs --- reporters, editors, unnamed current and former officials, and "experts" --- of those creating them?

On 18 January, The Washington Post prominently featured a story with the eye-catching headline, "Iranian-backed Militant Group in Iraq is Recasting Itself as a Political Player".

The opening paragraph was no less sensational...

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Activist Zainab AlKhawaja Given 3-Month Sentence

See also Syria Live Coverage: Foreign Governments Pledge Support for Opposition --- But How Much?
Thursday's Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Two Detainees in Israel Prisons End Long-Term Hunger Strikes

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Zainab AlKhawaja1720 GMT: Egypt. Employees of nongovernmental organizations say the Government is refusing to approve most of their outside grants, forcing some to lay off staff or cut salaries while preventing them from completing projects.

“It's worse, and it gets worse and worse and worse,” said Magdy Abdel Hamid, head of the Egyptian Association for Community Participation and Enhancement. “Under [former President Hosni] Mubarak there were problems, and sometimes they refused [to approve foreign-funded grants], but in general, under the Mubarak regime we were in better condition.”

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Palestine (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Two Detainees in Israel Prisons End Long-Term Hunger Strikes

See also Syria Live Coverage: US "Non-Lethal" Assistance --- and More --- for the Insurgency
Wednesday's Israel (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Pressure Builds Over Settlements

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Tarek Qaadan1656 GMT: Bahrain. After a five-day visit, Human Rights Watch officials have declared that "rulers have made no progress on key reform promises, failing to release unjustly imprisoned activists or to hold accountable high-level officials responsible for torture".

Human Rights Watch also declared that a draft association law "significantly undermines what few rights independent non-governmental associations have under the country’s current law".

In the visit, the first permitted to Human Rights Watch in almost a year, three representatives met with the Minister of Interior; the Attorney General; leading police officials; John Timoney, the British adviser to the Ministry; and representatives of the Ministries of Social Development and Human Rights.

1650 GMT: Iraq. Two car bombs near a football field in north Baghdad have killed at least 11 people and wounded another 30, security and medical officials said.

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