Bahrain Video Special: A Tribute to Ahmed Ismail Hassan, Citizen Journalist of Salmabad

Ahmed Ismael Hassan AlSamadi, a 22-year-old man from Salmabad was shot and killed late Friday night by an unknown assailant who fired at him from a Toyota Land Cruiser. Ahmed's tragic death --- and the quest to bring his killer and any individual or institutional accomplices to justice --- will rightly dominate much discussion in Bahrain. One hopes also that his loved ones will be allowed to mourn, free from police harassment or attack.

Here, however, we want to pay tribute to a vital part of the legacy of Ahmed's life. It has been suggested that Ahmed was targeted by the gunman because he was known to be a citizen journalist in Salmabad, documenting events and distributing his work through social media.

Ahmed's work in documenting the Pearl Revolution goes back over a year. It is valuable for anybody seeking insight into events on the ground, particularly the police activities in Salmabad.

One of the first videos Ahmed uploaded captures a women's march to Pearl Roundabout, the iconic centre of the protests, on 4 March, 2011:

Click to read more ...

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Gathering of the "Friends of Syria"

A march in Bilad Alqadeem in Bahrain today, expressing solidarity with political leaders in prison

A protester amidst the tear gas in Salmabad in Bahrain on Saturday

See also Syria Document: Beginner's Guide to The 27 Points of the "Friends of Syria" Meeting
Syria Feature: An Insurgency Running Short of Ammunition
Bahrain Video Interview: Nabeel Rajab on BBC HARDTalk "Why This Regime and This Revolution Are Different"
Bahrain Video Special: A Tribute to Ahmed Ismail Hassan, Citizen Journalist of Salmabad
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Teenager is Shot to Death in Salmabad

---

2005 GMT: CNN posts a video profile of prominent Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat --- abducted and badly beaten by gunmen in Damascus last August, he left the country but now hopes to return:

Click to read more ...

Syria Document: Beginner's Guide to The 27 Points of the "Friends of Syria" Meeting

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Photo: Murad Sezer/Reuters)The 27-point summary by the more than 70 national delegations at today's "Friends of Syria" gathering in Istanbul --- the condensed version of the narrative....

The representatives called for a political transition (Point 5) and implementation of the "peace plan" of United Nations envoy Kofi Annan (6), while regretting regime actions, such as the support of violence, that appeared to defy that plan (7).

What to do? The delegations vaguely suggested "additional appropriate measures with a view to the protection of the Syrian people" (7) and "support for legitimate measures taken by the Syrian population to protect themselves" (13).

The most substantial of the decisions was recognition of the Syrian National Council as the sole representative of the Syrian people (10), with endorsement of moves by factions to align with the SNC (8-9). The representatives also called for further sanctions, with emphasis on "prevention of the regime’s access to arms" (12 and 18), and for a daily two-hour "humanitarian pause" to provide aid to Syrians.

---

THE STATEMENT

1. The Second Conference of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People (“the Friends’ Group”) was held in Istanbul on 1 April 2012.

Click to read more ...

Syria Feature: An Insurgency Running Short of Ammunition (Abouzeid)

"Fouad," a rail-thin Syrian in tight jeans who looks at least a decade older than his 25 years, leans forward in a black faux leather armchair in an unheated, sparsely furnished room in this southern Turkish city.

"I need ammunition," he tells Abu Mohammad, a stocky Turkish weapons dealer sitting impossibly upright on the stiff couch. "I'll pay five and a half." He quotes the price in Turkish liras -- about $3 per bullet.

Abu Mohammad smirks. He carefully places his white, half-moon Turkish coffee cup on the small square table in front of him. "They're seven each," he says. "If you can get them for five and a half, I'll buy them from you."

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Video Interview: Nabeel Rajab on BBC HARDTalk "Why This Regime and This Revolution Are Different"

On Saturday, Nabeel Rajab, the President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was detained again by regime for "illegal participation in a regime" and held for several hours. His alleged criime was to protest the continued detention of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, his predecessor at the BCHR who has been imprisoned for life and is on Day 53 of a hunger strike.

Earlier in the week, Rajab was in a much different setting, fielding the challenge of questions from the BBC's HARDTalk programme about the situation in his kingdom, including the ongoing violence, and about his vision of a political resolution:

The Latest from Iran (1 April): Nuclear Postures

2030 GMT: Sanctions Watch (Syrian Front). This weekend we noted the claim of US officials that an Iranian company was shipping $84 million of Syrian oil to China, evading international sanctions on Damascus.

Now the Maltese Foreign Ministry has said it is delisting the Maltese-flagged, Iranian-owned tanker allegedly carrying the crude.

The M.T. Tour loaded the 120,000 tonne cargo of light crude at the Syrian port of Tartus last weekend.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Teenager is Shot to Death in Salmabad

After Bahraini police attack funeral procession for Ahmed Ismael Hassan (see 1445 GMT), youth respond by throwing Molotov cocktails at armoured vehicles

See also Bahrain Feature: The Killing of Ahmed Ismail Hassan
Libya Feature: With the "Islamists" in a New Country
Syria Flashback: The Schoolboys Who Sparked an Uprising
Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers
Friday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: No Sleep Until....

---

2150 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria report that 65 people have died today across the country, including six children and 10 defected soldiers. Twenty-seven of the deaths were in Daraa Province, including 18 claimed executions; 19 perished in Homs Province, and 12 in Idlib Province.

2145 GMT: Human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, detained earlier this evening in the Bahraini capital Manama, has been released:

Rajab facing a policeman before he was detained (Photo: EPA):

Click to read more ...

The Latest from Iran (31 March): All Quiet on the Tehran Front...Almost

See also Iran Feature: Muffling the Drumbeats of War? Israel, Azerbaijan, and the US
The Latest from Iran (30 March): After Turkey's Prime Minister Went Home....

---

1530 GMT: Nuclear Watch. During her visit to Saudi Arabia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has confirmed that Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China) will begin talks on Tehran's nuclear programme on 13 April in Istanbul.

1430 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Press TV, which has reported for weeks that sanctions were not forcing Ankara to curb trade with Tehran has been forced to headline, "Turkey to Decrease Iranian Oil Imports".

The admission follows Friday's announcement by Minister of Energy Taner Yildiz and Turkey's largest refiner that purchases of Iranian oil will be cut by 20%, with supplies coming instead from Libya.

Taner Yildiz also said Turkey is in talks with Saudi Arabia on spot oil purchases and longer term contacts: “We plan to increase the number of countries we buy oil from and the routes we use.”

Click to read more ...

Syria Wired: The Latest from Social Media and EA's Readers

Demonstration this morning in Daraa Province

---

Latest news on the Syrian crisis, collected and posted by EA readers....

Bahrain Feature: The Killing of Ahmed Ismail Hassan

---

An EA correspondent, based on interviews with eyewitnesses, describes the events around the death of Ahmed Ismail Hassan:

About 12:30 a.m., the protesters decided to return to the village. As they departed, a man inside the Land Cruiser fired again. Ahmed Ismail Hassan was shot in the lower abdomen.

When Ahmed was shot, he shouted and tried to run for about 20 feet until he fell. One of the protesters tried to help him walk from the scene until Ahmed fainted. Other youths gathered and carried him inside the village, taking him to a house where he had first aid before taking him to the hospital.

Click to read more ...