Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Persistence

1740 GMT: EA staff are going on a Saturday night break. We will be back at 0600 GMT to wrap up today's developments.

1730 GMT: Opposition accounts and video indicate regime forces in Libya have been scattering land mines in Misurata.

Human Rights Watch has verified the use of Chinese anti-vehicle mines, dropped by mini-parachutes from rockets.

1650 GMT: Another image of the regime airstrike on oil storage tanks of the opposition-held city of Misurata in Libya:

Photo: Bryan Denton (New York Times)

1645 GMT: A demonstration today at a funeral in Homs:

1640 GMT: Officials at Cairo airport say the Foreign Minister of Libya’s opposition government has cancelled a visit to Qatar after failing to get approval from Saudi Arabia to fly over its airspace.

Ali al—Issaoui and three other officials from the National Transitional Council waited for 20 hours at the airport before flying back to eastern Libya on Saturday.

1635 GMT: An activist has told AFP that Syrian security forces have killed three women and wounded five others who were demonstrating outside the city of Baniyas, calling for the release of detainees.

A military official said, "Army units and security forces today pursued members of terrorist groups in and around Baniyas and neighbourhoods of [the southern town of] Deraa to restore security and stability. They arrested people and seized a quantity of weapons that these groups have used to attack the army and citizens and scare people."

1630 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration in the financial district of Hama in Syria today:

1625 GMT: Activists have told AFP that two students have been killed in Yemen protests.

1220 GMT: Activists, using "The Syrian Revolution 2011" Facebook page, have called on President Assad to embrace democracy and hold elections by November: "The solution is simple: Stop shooting at demonstrators, allow peaceful demonstrations, remove all your photos and those of your father, release all political prisoners, allow political pluralism and free elections in six months."

The statement continued, "You will be the pride of contemporary Syria if you can transform Syria from a dictatorship into a democracy. Syrians would be grateful for that, and it is possible to do".

1205 GMT: Libyan regime warplanes have reportedly bombed four oil storage tanks in opposition-held Misurata:

1200 GMT: The Syrian rights groups Sawasiah has claimed that security forces have slain at least 800 civilians since the uprising began on 15 March.

Among the dead are 220 killed in the Syrian military assault and occupation of the southern town of Daraa.

1100 GMT: Lin Noueihed of Reuters offers a picture of the Libyan capital Tripoli:

More than two months after an uprising against Gaddafi's 41-year rule saw rebels seize the eastern part of Libya, the army has crushed dissent in the capital and its crack down on opponents elsewhere in the west is spreading fear.

"No one wants him. If the people in Tripoli were not so scared they would rise up. They did in February, in Tajoura, in Fashloom, in Souq al-Jumaa, but he crushed them," said one shopkeeper, changing the subject when other customers came in.

1055 GMT: The Bahrain regime's propaganda offensive rolls on. From Bahrain News Agency....

Bahrain TV last night continued airing more tragic stories that revealed the vile plot that the kingdom faced recently, in which the conspirators betrayed their homeland, used heinous means, distorted reality and coordinated with foreign sides to achieve their unethical and villainous goals.

During the TV Show "Open Dialogue" presented by Said Al Hamad, the viewers were given yet another living proof of those doctors who have derailed off the noble ethics of the medical professional and exploited a domestic accident for their treacherous ends.

1010 GMT: The Libyan Ambassador to Italy, Abdulhafed Gaddur, has declared in an interview with Corriere della Sera, "I am with the people, with the rebels and against Gaddafi's regime."

Gaddur said he will not resign but will continue to serve in his position "until a new Libya and its new government make their choices".

1000 GMT: Reuters reports that at least four shells have fallen inside Tunisia near Dehiba, after clashes on the Libyan side of the border.

0915 GMT: Activists say all communications to Homs in northern Syria have been cut. Landlines were switched off last night about 8 p.m., and mobile phone and Internet communication was closed down three hours later.

The Syrian military has moved units to Rastan, near Homs, this week.

All communications to the coastal city of Baniyas have also been halted.

0915 GMT: The Associated Press posts an article intersecting with our opening item this morning about the Bahrain regime's propaganda offensive against medical staff: "Bahrain's rulers cast net for loyalty oaths online".

0910 GMT: Reuters offers valuable context for this morning's Syrian military occupation of Baniyas on the coast:

Banias has seen some of the most persistent demonstrations since an uprising erupted in the southern city of Deraa seven weeks ago demanding political freedom and an end to corruption.

Authorities said the coastal city was a "centre of Salafist terrorism" and said armed groups had killed soldiers near the city. Salafism is an ultra-conservative brand Sunni Islam.

Civic leaders in Banias issued a statement denying the accusation and saying the authorities were trying to spread fear among Alawites, who occupy most senior positions in the army and security apparatus.

0905 GMT: More footage of Friday's gunfire against protesters in Homs in Syria:

See also Syria Video: The Friday Protests Continue --- Set 2
See also Latest Syria Video: The Friday Protests Continue

0900 GMT: Reuters summarises protests by hundreds of people in Tunisia on Friday, demanding the government's resignation, after a former Minister of Interior warned of a coup if Islamists win July elections.

"The people want a new revolution," chanted protesters on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the main thoroughfare in the capital Tunis. Although the interim administration denounced the former Minister's statement, critics worry a suspected plot could be used to derail reforms leading to the election

Police used tear gas and batons to break up a demonstration after Friday Prayers, but protesters regrouped at dusk fell, throwing stones and setting a fire.

The Ministry of Interior said four members of the security forces were injured, one critically.

0635 GMT: According to an activist, Syrian army units have moved into the coastal city of Baniyas with tanks.

0530 GMT: The headline persistence on Friday was that of thousands of Syrian protesters. Defying the intensifying security measures, including military deployments, they took to the streets across the country --- in Damascus as well as the towns from the south to the northeast --- to demand the end of the Assad regime.

Activists claim more than 20 people paid with their lives for that persistence, while State TV countered that one officer and four policemen were slain by an "armed group".

There were other persistences to be noted, however. In Libya --- which has receded from the spotlight as military lines have been drawn --- the opposition continued to work on securing its positions in the west of the country as well as in its base in the east.

In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh effectively declared that he was not stepping down, at least within the 30 days set out in the Gulf Co-operation Council plan that he set aside last weekend, telling his supporters that the opposition was made up of "retards" and "terrorists". 

Anti-Saleh demonstrators were not deterred, however, with mass ralies n the capital Sanaa and in cities such as Taiz.

And in Bahrain, yet another type of persistence: the regime, largely successful in quashing open protest through its security crackdown and the military support of allies like Saudi Arabia, is trying to quash the image that it has committed any wrongs. Last night, it launched a furious propaganda campaign against medical personnel, more than 40 of whom are missing or detained, denouncing doctors for lies and calling on the population to report "bad" medical staff.