Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Start of a "National Dialogue"

2110 GMT: A demonstration today in Kafranbel in northwest Syria:

2105 GMT: Another clip of today's pro-reform protests in Morocco, this time from the capital Rabat:

1940 GMT: Turkey has pledged $200 million in aid for Libya’s opposition National Transitional National Council.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, visiting the opposition centre of Benghazi,said, “Public demand for reforms should be answered, Gaddafi should go. and Libya shouldn’t be divided.”

Davutoglu stopped short of recognising the NTC as the sole representative of the Libyan people but he declared, “I am here to express solidarity with the Libyan people. Their legitimate right should be realised, there should be a permanent solution to the crisis which is possible only through a political solution based on the demands of the Libyan people."

Turkey had already announced a $100 million fund for the Libyan opposition last month.

1920 GMT: One of a series of photos posted of today's pro-reform demonstrations across Morocco(see 1525 GMT). This image is from Tangier:

1910 GMT: Back from a break to find the Bahraini regime making an apparent concession to complaints about the dismissal of employees during the uprising that began in mid-February.

Prime Minister Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa has given the private sector 10 days to reinstate wrongfully sacked employees, telling a committee examining cases to coordinate with private companies. The firms should reconsider termination of employees who were not implicated in crimes or who did not fail to assume their job responsibilities.

Activists have claimed that hundreds of employees were fired on the pretext that they had participated in demonstrations or a general strike in March.

1530 GMT: Protest last night in Idlib Province in northwest Syria:

1525 GMT: Pro-reform protesters plan to march this evening in several cities in Morocco, two days after a referendum officially backed --- with a 98.5% Yes votes --- constitutional amendments proposed by King Mohammed VI.

A security said the protests, which included rallies in Casablanca and the capital Rabat, will not be challenged as long as protesters acted within the law.

1520 GMT: Another mass march in Taiz in Yemen calling for a transitional government:

1510 GMT: It looks like the Syrian regime is striking back to establish that it has not "lost" Hama, 210 kilometres (130 miles) north of Damascus (see 1145 GMT)....

As tanks deployed at the entrances to the city, Rami Abdel-Rahman, president of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported, "Tens of people are being arrested in neighbourhoods on the edges of Hama. The authorities seem to have opted for a military solution to subdue the city," told Reuters.

A resident said communication networks had been cut off, as security forces and gunmen loyal to President Assad were seen in several neighbourhoods: "They fired their rifles randomly this morning in the Mashaa district. Arrests concentrated in the areas around the football stadium and in Sabounia district."

In 1982, up to 30,000 people were killed in Hama, Syria's 4th-largest city, when President Assad's father put down an uprising.

1455 GMT: Libyan opposition Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani has said that rebel fighters will advance from their stronghold in the western Nafusa mountains within two days to recapture territory on the plains and move within striking distance of the capital Tripoli.

Last week, opposition forces retreated from Bir al Ghanam, just 50 miles from Tripoli, after being attacked by regime troops.

"[It] was obviously a strategic withdrawal because of the battlefield situation and the amount of bombardment that the revolutionary forces were receiving," said Colonel Bani, speaking from the opposition base in Benghazi in eastern Libya, "But we hope to counter that within the next 48 hours."

1225 GMT: Fifty prominent opposition figures have announced a plan for a "national salvation" conference in Damascus on 16 July, seeking to establish a blueprint for solving Syria's political crisis.

A statement sent to Reuters declared, "In light of the military solution chosen by the regime to end the revolution, the conference aims to reach a consensus guided by the popular protest movement for a transitional period and a national salvation government that lays the foundation for a new constitution and free elections."

Signatories included Kurdish leader Mesha'al Al Tammo, former judge Haitham Al Maleh, Nawaf Al Bashir, a tribal leader from eastern Deir Al Zor province, economist Aref Dalila, and Walid Al Bunni, a physician who took part in the Damascus Spring movement crushed by the regime ten years ago.

1215 GMT: In Bahrain, the trial of three journalists --- all of the only country's only independent newspaper, Al Wasat --- accused of fabricating news to disrupt peace has been adjourned until 11 October.

Mansoor al-Jamri, former editor-in-chief; Walid Nouwaihidh, former managing editor; and Aqeel Mirza, former head of the local news department are on trial after they were forced to resign in April. A fourth man, Ali al-Sharifi, is being tried in absentia.

1145 GMT: Reuters reports, from activists and residents, that Syrian tanks have deployed at entrances to Hama, the country's fourth-largest city, after mass anti-regime protests in recent days.

Yesterday we asked, after an apparent military withdrawal from the area and the appearance of hundreds of thousands on the streets on Friday, "Has the Assad Regime 'Lost' Hama?"

1140 GMT: Al Jazeera English reports on the opening of the "national dialogue" in Bahrain on Saturday:

0850 GMT: AFP reports the claim of a family in the Libyan capital Tripoli that a relative was executed because they would not demonstrate for Muammar Qaddafi:

Hours after thousands packed Tripoli’s Green Square cheering for Moamer Kadhafi, Mohammed said the still warm body of his nephew was dumped outside the family home with two bullets in his head.

Mohammed told AFP why he is certain 30-year-old’s Ahmed’s fate was sealed while green flags were waving on the other side of the capital and as Kadhafi dished out threats against Europe, NATO and Libyan “traitors” on Friday.

Ahmed’s execution, he said, was punishment for his family’s refusal to take part in the rally, a vital show of strength by the Libyan leader amid a five-month-long uprising that has pushed the regime to the brink of collapse.

“Four or five days ago a member of one of Kadhafi’s revolutionary committees approached my brother’s family in Tripoli,” the 50-something Mohammed told AFP on Saturday, his voice ringing with anger and mourning.

“They told him: ‘We have your son, he is being held at Abu Salim prison. If your family does not come out to demonstrate on Friday you will never see your son again’.”

0845 GMT: Video of a protest in Homs in Syria, during a funeral procession for a demonstrator killed on Friday:

0645 GMT: Friday's headlines of protest, especially in Syria, were overtaken yesterday by headlines of "national dialogue" from Bahrain, as more than 300 invited delegates gathered in a Manama conference hall. 

Critics of the process, led by the monarchy, have argued that the numbers for the month-long discussion are heavily stacked in favour of the regime and that detentions, trials, and abuse of political prisoners continue. However, the talks were given some substance when the largest opposition party, al Wefaq, agreed to join in a last-minute decision.

The Obama Administration offered its endorsement in a Saturday statement: "We urge all Bahrainis to seize this opportunity to forge a more just future together. It is important that government and political leaders create a positive atmosphere to help promote a successful dialogue process."

The US also backed this week's promise by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to appoint an international committee to review events in the opening weeks of the 14 February uprising: "The United States also welcomes the formation of a commission of inquiry to investigate and report on events connected with the unrest of recent months. By providing an independent assessment of what happened and identifying those responsible, the Royal Commission will play an essential role in advancing reconciliation, justice and peace in Bahrain."

The "dialogue", however, was accompanied by events outside the conference centre. Some in the opposition gathered to protest, and an attempted march of hundreds from Sanabis to Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic centre of the uprising, was blocked by security forces who used tear gas.