Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Spread of the Deaths

A rally in Homs in Syria last night

See also Oman Feature: A Not-Quite-So-Quiet Arab State
Thursday's Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: "Did This Rocket Fall from Outer Space?"

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0150 GMT: The Bahraini Ministry of Interior is now trying to explain how its policemen were not responsible for the attack on the house and car of the head of the Al-Wefaq opposition party, Sheikh Ali Salman, blaming protesters while shifting attention from authorities:. Here's the lengthy statement in full from the Ministry of Interior's website: 

The General Director of Northern Governorate Police has announced that at around 10:55 PM on Thursday around 60 individuals went into illegal procession in Bilad Al Qadeem with the aim to block roads and hinder traffic flow. They were also involved in vandalism, rioting and hurling Molotov cocktails and stones at policemen. This led to the interference of police forces to disperse them and reopen the roads by shooting tear gas and sound shoots. 

In regard of what was circulated by some individuals through social media websites claiming that the house and car of the General Secretary of Al Wefaq National Islamic Society were damaged by policemen, the General Director explained that vandals were 50 meters away from the house and there was a distance of around 50 meters between vandals and policemen, hence they were around 100 meters away from the house. Policemen used teargas and sound shoots and both are hurled by hand, so it is difficult for them to reach to the house and the car that was next to it. The shell...that was found inside the car is a [shell] that is hurled by the hand as it is shown in the image. 

He added that the concerned team moved to the scene, while no complaint was reported by those affected by the incident and that explains that those who created the damages bear the responsibility of what they did.

2035 GMT: Two videos from Thursday, showing empty shell casings that were fired at homes in Homs in Syria: 

1950 GMT: Reports from social media claim that up to 30 people may have been killed by security forces in Syria today. Additional videos from the protests across the country, beginning with Damascus: 

Idlib in the northwest

Aleppo

Daraa in the south:

A body of a protester, shot dead by security forces (Warning --- Graphic):

1930 GMT: Video from Hama in Syria:

1745 GMT: Video from Qaara in the Damascus countryside, with protesters calling for Syria's freedom from dictatorship:

1735 GMT: Reuters has a more detailed report on the violence in Yemen, including the confirmation that at least 13 people have been killed in Tiaz and at least 30 injured. The dead include an 8 year-old girl.

1725 GMT: We have reports of heavy fighting between regime forces and tribesmen in Taiz, Yemen today, with at least 13 people killed. Here's a video of the casualties (Warning --- Extremely Graphic):

1645 GMT: Video of a sniper on a rooftop in a Damascus suburb, keeping watch on protesters:

1640 GMT: As the Arab League meets tomorrow in Cairo to discuss the ongoing violence in Syria, protesters are calling for support. Reuters reports the chants of demonstrators that Syria be suspended from the organization. 

1635 GMT: Protests inside Syria continue as darkness falls across the Middle East. Viewers can follow a livestream video of protests currently happening in Daraa in the south.

1630 GMT: Video of protests from the Bab Amro section of Homs in Syria --- after a week of military shelling, protesters chant, "Long Live Syria; Down with Bashar al-Assad!":

1620 GMT: A deputy in the Russian Parliament has told the Syrian State website SANA that Moscow will not allow any US-sponsored actions against Syria to pass in the UN Security Council. 

Duma deputy Sergei Markov accused the US of wanting to extract revenge against the Syrian government. He said that Damascus is the key to the stability of the Middle East, accusing anti-regime protesters of terrorism: "The extremist terrorist groups in Syria are linked with foreign parties and funded by the US taxpayers' expense, depending at the same time on the support of al- Qaeda supporters."

1610 GMT: While media reports indicate that 13 people have been killed today by Syrian security forces, activists are claiming that the number is higher. One source claims the number could be around 20. 

1600 GMT: At least 13 people have been killed in Syria today so far, according to the Associated Press, as security forces fire on demonstrations and raid homes. Opposition groups claim that 10 of the people killed were in the city of Homs, and the rest in the south of the country.

1550 GMT: Human Rights Watch has called on the Arab League to suspend Syria's membership for "crimes against humanity" committed against the citizens of Homs by the Assad regime. It further calls on the organization to support the UN Security Council in stopping what it describes as the "carnage" inflict on Syrians. According to the BBC, HRW has conducted more than 100 interviews with Syrians in Homs.

1530 GMT: A bird's-eye image of the mass opposition rally in Bahrain today:

A special image of protest in Syria today --- this is the turnout in the Bab Amro section of Homs, which has been shelled by the military all week:

More on the move of 17-year-old Ashwaq Almagabi from hospital to a Bahraini prison (see 0625 GMT)....

The Ministry of Interior has denied that Almaqabi was seized from Salmaniya Medical Center, claiming that she had been discharged by the doctor after treatment for sickle cell anemia.

A Ministry official said a statement made by opposition party Al-Wefaq sought "to incite public opinion".

Almaqabi has been sentenced to six months in prison for participation in a protest last month at City Center Mall.

Back from a break to find this video of a massive rally in Tadmor in Syria today:

Libya's Acting Minister of Oil, Ali Tarhouni, has said that production will return to more than 40% of its pre-war level by the end of the year and completely recover by June 2012. Foreign analysts, while expressing surprise at the pace of recuperation, have said the estimate may be too optimistic, asserting that the process could take two years or longer.

Syrian activists say that two people have died in Hama and five have been slain in Homs.

People in Naheta in the south call for outside support:

A protest in the town of Nasseb:

Several leading human rights groups in Egypt have turned down an invitation from the authorities to take part in discussions about the Constituent Assembly which will draft a new Constitution, declaring that the ruling military council must first "prove their respect for the dignity and rights of the Egyptian people":

We established our credibility with the Egyptian people through years of hard work resisting the dictatorship and addressing practices which violated human rights. Regardless of the military council and government's position towards us, we will not participate in discussions which, ten months after the fall of Mubarak, begin to look less and less serious. It is out of question to discuss a constituent assembly to draft the constitution with the government and military council. Their prisons are packed with hundreds, if not thousands, of citizens. Their people have paid the price for a society which respects the rights and dignity of humans with the blood of their children. And members of this government and council continue to evade punishment for their crimes, falsehoods, and incitement against the Egyptian people.

Reports are streaming in of protests across Syria and some clashes. Al Jazeera is reporting that security forces raided the the Oeiss al-Qorani Mosque in Aleppo, injuring a number of people.

More news from Bahrain, with the head of the Al Wefaq opposition party, Sheikh Ali Salman, reporting by Twitter that he was attacked last night by police smashed his car and threw a tear gas cylinder into his daughter's room.

Al Wefaq have issued a statement condemning the incident.

Meanwhile, the five main political opposition parties have announced a Festival of Loyalty today, criticising human rights abuses and honouring those who have been killed, wounded, detained, and fired since the protests began on 14 February.

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In Bahrain, 17-year-old Ashwaq Almagabi was reportedly taken from Salmaniya Hospital, where she was being treated for sickle cell anemia, to prison on Thursday evening.

Almagabi was one of more than 40 women arrested last months during a protest at City Center Mall in Bahrain's capital Manama. She was given a six-month sentence.

A photograph of Almagabi in hospital:

A candle-lit protest in Karzakan last night:

Police close roads and set up a mass presence in Sitra:

Almost 40 dead in Syria on Thursday, according to activists --- that in itself merits headlines but the significance of the story spreads farther.

As we noted yesterday, there has been a shift both in the type and location of casualties. More of the deaths appear to be of defecting troops killed in clashes with the regime's military --- indeed, the "almost 40" total includes some Assad soldiers who were slain by "armed gangs", in the phrase favoured by State media.

And the deaths, and thus the defections and resistance, appear to be closing in on the capital. In addition to the casualties from Homs to Idlib to Deir Ez Zor, we had reports on Thursday of fights in Harasta, northeast of Damascus.