Warning: GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING IMAGES
The video was uploaded on 31 July. The Arabic caption reads: "Is there any crime worse than killing someone and then throwing the body in the river? Where are human rights? Where is world opinion? Where is Amnesty International?" There is no way to properly verify the clip.
Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 17:01 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2215 GMT: Mass rally in Homs in Syria tonight:
2100 GMT: Two clips of tonight's protest in Harasta, northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus, demanding the fall of the Assad regime:
2040 GMT: Picture of Day. Journalist Ahmad Zeidabadi, released on 48-hour furlough from a six-year prison sentence, with his family:
2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. HRANA reports that journalist Isa Saharkhiz has had two years added to his prison sentences because of his "media activities".
Saharkhiz, detained in July 2009, will now serve five years.
Labour activist Ali Nejati has been sentenced to one year in prison.
After six months battling a rebellion that his family portrayed as an Islamist conspiracy, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s son and one-time heir apparent said Wednesday that he was reversing course to forge a behind-the-scenes alliance with radical Islamist elements among the Libyan rebels to drive out their more liberal-minded confederates.
“The liberals will escape or be killed,” the son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, vowed in an hourlong interview that stretched past midnight. “We will do it together,” he added, wearing a newly grown beard and fingering Islamic prayer beads as he reclined on a love seat in a spare office tucked in a nearly deserted downtown hotel. “Libya will look like Saudi Arabia, like Iran. So what?”
Euronews has posted an extract from an interview with President Ahmadinejad on the fate of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the possibility of a similar uprising in Iran, and the strict house arrests of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi:
Ahmadinejad: We should express our sadness that some leaders have such a bad relationship with their people that they end up at this point. I voice my disappointment over the global management which separates some governments from their people to the point that the people, for the sake of reaching a degree of freedom, have to ask for the trial of their leaders.
In the end, it is important to note that every Iranian person is entitled to the inherent right of self-defense under international law. This right is clearly provided in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.
The uprising in Tunisia and Egypt teach us that one need not ask for permission from oppressors when fighting for fundamental transformations. It is rather the spontaneous and mass presence of civilians on the streets that can change the balance of power to the advantage of the population. These experiences also teach us that one should not direct oneself to the oppressors to guarantee fundamental rights. Instead, people should clearly recognize their strengths and potential, and pursue their struggle with self-confidence. Because where danger is, the power of salvation also grows.
I was sad when I heard Waheed Omer was appointed as President Hamid Karzai’s spokesperson. But I was also sad when he quit yesterday.
I met Waheed almost a decade ago in Peshawar in Pakistan at a modest function that the Sanayee Development Foundation was holding for its employees. Waheed worked for SDF; I was a new teacher for their affiliate English institute, Kabul English Language Center.
Back then, we --- young, partially-educated Afghans --- were a much different group. Our country had been given a second chance months earlier with the fall of the Taliban. So we were all looking very much forward to going back home and contributing not just to rebuilding our country, but rebuilding our lives.
The Security Council expresses its grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, and expresses profound regret at the death of many hundreds of people.
The Security Council condemns the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities.
The Security Council calls for an immediate end to all violence and urges all sides to act with utmost restraint, and to refrain from reprisals, including attacks against state institutions.
For the third night in a row, civilians in Syria attend their local mosques to pray Taraweeh, part of their Ramadan tradition. After the prayers, the protests begin. We've already received reports of casualties and violence, and we will update this video list as video filters in.
See also today's liveblog, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Sights and Sounds of Protest
See also Syria Video Special: Another Defiant Night of Ramadan Protests
UPDATED Thursday, 0503 GMT: We have received over 50 videos of protests tonight, here are just a sampling. Notice that there has been very little video, or news, out of Hama since this morning, where the military action has only intensified, and most forms of communication have been shut down.
Bullets ring out in the night sky over Homs:
