Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Pulling Out of Deir Ez Zor?

See Also, Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

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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. 

1840 GMT: Another very disturbing video footage of Malik al-Omar, 27, who was killed with three bullets in his body, reportedly in Homs.

1825 GMT: Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from Zawiyah:

Gaddafi forces hit the power plant in Zawiyah. No electricty in the area.

Opposition battling with Gaddafi forces over control of oil refinary in Zawiyah, they fear that government may hit it with grads.

Gaddafi's green flags could still be seen flying over some buildings in the center of Zawiyah.

1815 GMT: This video, uploaded today, claims to show damage to a school for women during the two week siege of Hama.

1810 GMT: According to Syrian dissidents and U.S. officials, Syrian embassy staffers are tracking and photographing antiregime protesters and sending reports back home. 

1755 GMT: After Damascus had begun requiring US diplomats to get approval before travelling outside the Syrian capital in July, the tit for tat comes from Washington today. Now, Syrian diplomats need to seek official permission before leaving Washington.

1740 GMT: Libyan opposition fighters commander Col. Radwan Fheid told CNN: 

Most of Zawiya is now in rebel hands, but there are snipers and shelling coming from the east of the city. The snipers are near Zawiya hospital. People are leaving. They can't stay because of the shelling. These are the last days, God willing.

1735 GMT: Yemeni opposition groups announced the formation of the National Revolution Council, with 143 members from a range of political factions, seeking international recognition as the sole representative of Yemen in order to replace President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his government.

Mohammed Qahtan, the spokesman for the opposition Joint Meeting Parties, said:

The national council will speed the process of change in Yemen and will end all government efforts in forcing the country to enter a phase of violence.

1710 GMT: According to The Guardian, the names of three people killed in Homs today are: Omar Ibrahim Alzou'bi, Khaled Ahmad Alsuleyman and Firas Alnuyaimi. However, there is a new video allegedly showing that a boy was killed in Homs today as well. NOTE: It is highly disturbing!

1655 GMT: This video is reportedly showing Libyan opposition fighters entering Gheryan centre. 

1645 GMT: Today's death toll in Syria: At least four Palestinian refugees have been killed in the Raml refugee camp in Latakia; whereas in Homs, there are reports of five people killed, as well as two in Idlib. 

1630 GMT: A woman in Latakia died of her wounds Wednesday, two days after she was injured, according to the observatory and The Local Coordination Committees. It is also reported by the same group that three people have been killed in the central city of Homs today.

1600 GMT: A 17-year old boy claimed to be killed in Homs today. It is disturbing!

1545 GMT: A video footage reportedly showing a Yemeni man shot by armed and lost his money to thugs wearing Republic Guards jackets. 

1540 GMT: This video footage is reportedly showing the funeral procession of Firas Al Nuaimi killed in Deir ez-Zor.

1530 GMT: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Washington risks losing 'Arab Spring' opportunity if there are further cuts to military, diplomatic and development spending. She said:

We have an opportunity right now in the Middle East and North Africa that I'm not sure we're going to be able to meet because we don't have the resources to invest.

Budget documents are value statements: who we are as a people, what we stand for, what investments we're making in the future.

Whether we will continue to be strong and be able to project American power is up for grabs, and we're going to make the best case we can that American power is a power for the good... We hope that it will find a ready audience in the Congress as these negotiations resume.

1510 GMT: Is the Arap Spring spreading towards India? In support of anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare, who is sitting on a hunger strike in New Delhi's Tihar jail since Tuesday and condemned by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh due to her "dangerous challenge to India's parliamentary democracy", 60,000 to 70,000 people claimed to be marching from India Gate in Central Delhi.

 1455 GMT: The International Amnesty is calling for a petition to urge three UN Security Council members - Brazil, South Africa and India - to "to support a firmer position on Syria and help end the bloodshed there."

 1445 GMT: Two video footages reportedly showing the presence of Syrian army in Homs.

These videos have moved to a separate entry, Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

1430 GMT: The LA Times's Borzou Daragahi says:

Security forces in white vans resembling ambulances shooting at people and escaping city through orchards.

1425 GMT: The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) says that as many as 10,000 Palestinians are missing after fleeing a refugee camp in Latakia and that they have "no idea" where they are.

1410 GMT: Egypt's official news agency is quoting unnamed sources as saying:

Mubarak criticised Syrian President Bashar Assad for the crimes he's committing against his people, advising that he should step down in response to national will.

1400 GMT: Some Saudi activists launched a campaign calling on the Saudi government to "expel the ambassador of this savage (Syrian) regime immediately.''

1345 GMT: 9 Turkish soldiers were killed and 11 injured in an ambush by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) this morning. 

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said:

Unfortunately, terror is a merciless and Godless phenomenon. After this point, it is not time to talk but action. 

1335 GMT: Syrian forces killed a two-year old girl and a man in Idlib. We cannot verify when these videos were taken. Be careful: Disturbing images!

1300 GMT: The United Nations has withdrawn 26 non-essential staff and their families from Syria.

1245 GMT: A senior US defense official said that Washington is sending two additional Predator drones to Libya, as a slight shift inceasing the importance of its role in the international campaign. 

1230 GMT: After Syrian forces had hit the Palestinian refugee camp, Gazans went outside to protest the Assad regime, However, Hamas dispersed the group on Tuesday night, saying that organizers had not received a permit to hold it.

1200 GMT: Sheikh Sariya al-Rifai, a Syrian cleric in Damascus, warned the Assad regime and hold it responsible for the current situation. He said: 

Beware ... all of Syria will erupt if you don't stop. I hold the leadership responsible for every drop of spilled blood.

I never imagined that the leadership of this country would give such a gift to its people and country ... blood spilling into the streets of Hama and other provinces.

1135 GMT: The group, which calls itself the Youth Shadow Government, said they are gathering signatures on a petition supporting the execution of ousted President Hosni Mubarak due to the crimes he committed during his 30-year ruling.

1120 GMT: Switzerland increased sanctions, adding 12 individuals to a list of key players under financial embargo and travel restriction.

1110 GMT: The opposition forces in Libya have seized most of the city of Zawiyah, as well as a town to the south, cutting Tripoli's two main supply routes. Meanwhile, according to the news agency AP, the Libyan opposition have cut off the oil pipeline to Tripoli from Zawiya.

1100 GMT: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that more than 700 security personnel arrested people on lists during the operation in the southern district of Ramel in Latakia.

1040 GMT:  The Libyan opposition denied reports that it's holding secret talks with Muammar Gaddafi.

1020 GMT: While no one has called on Assad to step down yet, Russia is continuing to supply weapons to Syria. The arms export agency, Rosoboronexport, chief Anatoly Isaikin said: "While no sanctions are announced, while there are no orders or directions from the government, we are obliged to fulfil our contractual obligations, which we are now doing."

0950 GMT: The National Transitional Council's envoy to Paris, Mansur Saif al-Nasr, said that the opposition fighters had full control of Zawiyah. Meanwhile, they are pushing further to isolate Tripoli, moving toward a western town called al-Heisha that links the capital and Sirte.

0945 GMT: Two pictures showing some government troops leaving Deir ez-Zor. Witnesses still insist that there are troops deployed in the city.

0930 GMT: The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says troops have detained dozens of people overnight after cutting electricity in a Damascus neighborhood. Besides, a man was killed in the northwestern Idlib province as he stood on his balcony while raids were taking place.

0900 GMT: The Assad regime tells that military and security forces have withdrawn from the city of Deir ez-Zor and key areas in Latakia. However, witnesses claim the opposite.  According to Al Jazeera's Nisreen el-Shamayleh, witnesses said that tanks were moved to other suburbs on the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor where two were killed on Tuesday night and, before heavy gunfire early Wednesday morning, two kiiled in Latakia on Tuesday night as well. She  reports:

[They said] a lot of the tanks have been moved to other suburbs on the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor, but did not exit completely ... They basically provide these accounts that challenge these statements from the Syrian government.

Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu also confirmed that the military campaign was not over. He said:

We stress the necessity that the army withdraws and ends the military campaign. I can confirm that Deir ez-Zor is still witnessing problems and the army is in Deir ez-Zor and other towns.

The bloodshed has to stop, first and foremost. The military operations have to stop.

If the operations continue in Syria and the operations become a regional problem Turkey can naturally not remain indifferent.

0718 GMT: James Miller makes this quick update before going to sleep. Scott Lucas is on the road, but James and Ali Yenidunya will be running the blog in a few hours...

The Syrian regime tells a story, armed gangs terrorizing the countryside, and a victorious army pulling out of Deir Ez Zor, and other locations, having put down the threat.

The activists, and the videos, tell a different story, tanks and soldiers indiscriminately firing on civilians and residential buildings, tanks re-positioning from one hot-spot to another in the hopes that by the end of Ramadan there won't be anyone brave enough to take the streets in protest.

Is it working? We've still received videos of protests in recent days in Idlib, Homs, and Hama, all locations that have faced heavy crackdown. It's hard to tell if the rallies are larger (unlikely) or smaller (likely), but the opposition to Assad isn't going anywhere.

These are just a few videos from last night's protests, and videos are slowly trickling in.

Predawn protests in Damascus:

Qaboun district, Damascus:

Homs:

Saraqeb, Idlib:

But the protesters aren;t the only ones on the move. We have received video, which appears to be filmed by a soldier, of tanks leaving Lattakia this morning:

Yet even as we receive this video, we have yet another that claims to show tanks moving into Hula village, Homs, this morning:

The video has moved to a separate entry, Syria Video Special: This is What Assad Calls "Withdrawing"

It is also interesting to see SANA display images of Syrian tanks leaving Deir Ez Zor, as they had denied that the tanks were even in Deir Ez Zor for so long. Also, residents of the city are already claiming that the tanks have not left the city. And in Lattakia, there are reports of heavy gunfire in some neighborhoods, particularly the al-Ramel al-Janoubi neighbourhood where two Palestinians were killed last night.

Now, we wait to see if the regime's claims of troop withdrawal are true (in Hama, there is still evidence of an intense military presence, but on the periphery of the city), and we also wait to see if the tanks are repositioned elsewhere.

Perhaps Assad is betting that the scale of the crackdown will keep things quiet enough for him to pass more reform measures, pacify the moderates and the middle class, and see this through. However, the protests show no sign of subsiding, and it is highly unlikely that, after more than 2000 civilians have been killed, the protesters will be willing to compromise.