Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 15:13 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, EA USA, Middle East and Iran ;)
World leaders condemned the violence in Syria today and demanded President Assad step down.
See Also, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: The Crackdown has Stopped?
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Announces New Sanctions Against Syria
Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 13:53 | Ali Yenidunya in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran See also Syria: Crisis may hurt economies of the Region (Saif)
World Leaders Condemn Syria Violence, Assad Regime
Syria Special: Diane Rehm - Escalating Violence in Syria
Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"
2015 GMT: A demonstration in Deir Ez Zor in northeast Syria tonight:
And in Douma outside Damascus:
And in Jarjanaz in the northwest:
Aleppo, Ban Ki-moon, Bashar al Assad, Hama, Latakia, Syria, Torture, river We have been documenting the human cost of the crisis in Syria, and beyond, but in the end, the economic cost of the Arab Spring may be a major driving factor in social and political change in the region. Ibrahim Saif, an analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Center, writes on the LA's Times blog, Babylon & Beyond:;)
;)
In this Friday, July 22, 2011, a citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone and provided by Shaam News Network, Syrian anti-regime protesters gather during a rally in al-Assy square in the western city of Hama, Syria. The Arabic on banner reads:"we will never forget our martyrs and prisoners." A citizen journalism image/AP
Diane Rehm and a panel of experts do an excellent job of summing up the most current news, but the panel also addressed some of the most important questions about the conflict: Why haven't there been larger protests in Aleppo, what are Assad's tactics, what is the role of sectarianism or ethnicity in the conflict, and how might international sanctions effect the regime.
LISTEN TO THE SHOW - ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SYRIA
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 19:02 | James Miller in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Even as the Syrian government, and the Syrian State Television channel SANA, were claiming that the soldiers and tanks were pulling out of Lattakia and Deir Ez Zor, we started to receive video of tanks repositioning to other locations, most notably Homs. Now, there are reports that most of the troops and tanks have not left Deir Ez Zor or Lattakia.
Is this what Assad calls "withdrawal?"
See Also, Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Pulling Out of Deir Ez Zor?
Jobar, Damascus:
Al Korah, Deir Ez Zor:
Bashar al Assad, Deir Ez Zor, Homs, Latakia, Lattakia, Syria, Tanks, civilians, withdraw Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 13:53 | Ali Yenidunya in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran See Also, Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"
2100 GMT: It is claimed that 10 Turkish F-16s have bombed several PKK camps in northern Iraq. However, no official confirmation has come from Ankara yet.
1929 GMT: In our separate video entry, we've posted a clip claiming to show Syrian soldiers breaking in and looting a store in Hama.
1900 GMT: The number of killed Turkish soldiers has risen to 12. Meanwhile, the so-called "second man" of PKK, claimed to have been captured by Iranian forces, announced that PM Erdogan's "no tolerance" speech is nothing short of a declaration of war! He went further and threatened Ankara:
PM shall know that we have not used even five percent of our forces. We are waging a controlled defensive war now. If we take an official decision of war and order accordingly, then Ankara will be upside down.
Bashar al-Assad, Damascus, Deir Ez Zor, Hama, Homs, Lattakia, Palestinians, SANA, Syria, Tanks, withdraw 
Gareth Porter writes for InterPress Service:
Pakistani civilian and military leaders are insisting on an effective veto over which targets U.S. drone strikes hit, according to well-informed Pakistani military sources here.
The sources, who met with IPS on condition that they not be identified, said that such veto power over the conduct of the drone war is a central element in a new Pakistani demand for a formal government-to-government agreement on the terms under which the United States and Pakistan will cooperate against insurgents in Pakistan.
The basic government-to-government agreement now being demanded would be followed, the sources said, by more detailed agreements between U.S. and Pakistani military leaders and intelligence agencies.
The new Pakistani demand for equal say over drone strikes marks the culmination of a long evolution in the Pakistani military's attitude toward the drone war. Initially supportive of strikes that were targeting Al-Qaeda leaders, senior Pakistani military leaders soon came to realise that the drone war carried serious risks for Pakistan's war against the Pakistani Taliban.
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Patrick Disney writes for The Atlantic:
In about a month, Iran's firebrand president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will once again fly to New York to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly. Being the lightning rod that he is, there are sure to be vehement protests and massive public outcry over his mere presence, much less whatever vile exhortations he has in store for us this year. Although this particular stage drama has becomepredictable over the last six years, now there is a new twist: Ahmadinejad's near-total political impotence back home in Iran.
Ahmadinejad's recent fall from grace has led many observers to write him off as a meaningful force in Iran. One analyst I spoke to recently said Ahmadinejad has become more like a foreign minister than a president, able to go on trips and give speeches, but not much more.
1948 GMT: Oil Watch. An admission of challenges for Iran's energy industries? Minister of Oil Rostam Qassemi has reportedly said that he needs "special authorisations" to circumvent sanctions and that delays in oil and gas projects are a fundamental problem.
1915 GMT: Unity Watch. Digarban makes some provocative claims that the conservative/principlist quest for unity is not going quite as planned.
According to the site, Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani, the head of the Expediency Council, has rejected the conditions of the Islamic Constancy Front --- propelled by Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi --- for cooperation with the "7+8" unity front in the next Parliamentary elections.
In particular, Mahdavi Kani has resisted the elimination of representatives of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani and Tehran Mayor Mohammad Baqer-Qalibaf representatives from the 7+8 Committee, named because of its expansion to 15 members to include different conservative and principlist factions.
MP Asadollah Badamchian has backed up Mahdavi Kani, saying that the Constancy Front has taken a strict position and will fail if it does not cooperate with the 7+8. Mohsen Yahyavi of the Islamic Engineers party said the Constancy Front "should estimate its abilities cautiously and make no mistakes" to move with the hardliners' project more easily.
And Habibollah Bourbour of the Community of Islamic Revolution Loyalists went even farther: he declared that the Constancy Front wants to eliminate popular figures from the 7+8 and is fed by a "deviant current".
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 14:44 | Ali Yenidunya in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 1936 GMT: Avaaz is reporting 9 people killed in Lattakia today. Al Jazeera is reporting at least 2 deaths in the Asheera neighbourhood in Homs. "Heavy gunfire has been heard from inside the military academy in Al Wa'ar in the same city." This is a development that we will watch carefully. With the Turkish foreign minister stating that he does not want to see foreign intervention in the conflict, and with seemingly no will to take up arms against Bashar, the loyalty of the military will remain key in Assad's ability to hold power.
1903 GMT: Abu Kamal protests after Taraweeh prayers. Note the sign, "Down with Iran and Bashar":
Bousr Al Harer, Daraa:
1835 GMT: A demonstration forming earlier today in Hama, Syria:
