Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: 127 Die on A Syrian Saturday

Claimed footage --- near the end of the clip --- of the Free Syrian Army blowing up a regime tank in a convoy in Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib Province

See also Bahrain 1st-Hand: "She's Filth" --- Zainab Alkhawaja on Her Detention When She Called Out for Her Father
Bahrain Feature: Have "Hardline Sunni Groups" Overtaken the Regime?
Bahrain Feature: The Splintering of the "Regime" and "Opposition" Camps?
Bahrain Feature: A Call from Hunger Striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja to His Family
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Free Alkhawaja

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2015 GMT: Tonight activist Zainab Alkhawaja has told the story of how she was detained as she stood outside the military hospital where her father, detained hunger striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, is being held. We have posted her account in a separate feature.

1935 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria claim 59 people, including six children, have died in conflict today. Twenty-four deaths were in Idlib Province, including 10 unidentified bodies in Sahl Al-Rouh village. Thirteen were in Hama, including seven members from one family, and twelve in Homs.

1925 GMT: Libya's Minister of Justice Ali Ashour has said that Tripoli will not send Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of former leader Muammar Qaddafi, to the International Criminal Court but will put him on trial at home.

Saif al-Islam remains in a secret prison in the custody of the Zintan militia who caught him last autumn. Ashour said he will be tried by Libyan judges on charges of financial corruption, murder, and rape: "Libyan law is the right system to be used to try Saif Gaddafi."

The minister denied allegations of mistreatment made by an ICC defence lawyer, who said this week that Saif al-Islam had been beaten and had been misled about the charges against him.

1905 GMT: The mother of slain Bahraini citizen journalist Ahmed Ismail (see 1335 GMT) during a press conference this evening:

1845 GMT: Photojournalist Mazen Mahdi reports that police are moving through Manama, looking for protesters to detain. A fellow journalist was briefly held.

Both the opposition society Al Wefaq and the pro-regime the National Unity Assembly have condemned violent acts and damage of property.

The remarks came after assailants, calling themselves "Rebels Race in Bahrain", set a public bus alight in Jidhafs, reportedly ordering the passengers to get out before throwing in Molotov Cocktails. Moments later, a private minibus was set on fire in another area on a busy road.

The opposition society said, "Al-Wefaq condemns damaging acts of public and private property no matter the justifications and no matter who is behind these acts. We continue to stress and emphasize to adhere to peaceful methods."

The National Unity Assembly asserted, "We hold the political forces responsible for supporting these protestors who are committing criminal acts that affect the economy and lives of people."

1615 GMT: Claimed footage of a destroyed armoured vehicle and bodies of Syrian soldiers in the Qosour section of Homs:

1355 GMT: Bahrain's Supreme Judicial Council has rejected the request of the Danish Foreign Ministry for the release to Denmark of detained hunger striker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja.

Bahraini regime media confirmed yesterday that Copenhagen had made the request to save the life of Alkhawaja, a Danish-Bahraini dual national. The human rights activists, sentenced to life in prison last year, is on Day 60 of his hunger strike.

A judiciary official said the transfer did not meet "specific conditions".

1350 GMT: The Bahrain News Agency reports that the Bahrain special forces and a US task forces have launched the "In-Heart Fury" exercise, lasting until 15 May.

1345 GMT: The Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria report that 23 people, including 5 children, have died today across the country. The largest toll is in Daraa Province, with nine dead.

1335 GMT: Back from a weekend break to find that case of Ahmed Ismail Hassan, the 22-year-old citizen journalist shot to death last month as he filmed protests in Bahrain, rumbles on.

The regime-linked Gulf Daily News puts out the line that Ismael Hassan's family have told prosecutors the identity of the killer, but the newspaper gives no further indication of the suspect or the measures being taken to apprehend him.

Activists have claimed that a member of the militia linked to the regime fired the fatal shot of a Land Cruiser, after it shadowed and shot at protesters during the night in Salmabad.

A regime official also responded to the complaint of Ismail Hassan's family that the hospital has refused to put the real cause on the death certificate, claiming that this had been written in official Public Prosecution documents and in a medical examiner's report.

The family have refused to take Ismail Hassan's body for burial until the death certificate is corrected.

1025 GMT: A funeral today in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria's Idlib Province for a victim of the security forces:

0915 GMT: Syria's Foreign Ministry has raised doubts that the Assad regime will begin withdrawal, in accordance with the six-point "peace plan" of United Nations envoy Kofi Annan, on Tuesday: "To say that Syria will pull back its forces from towns on April 10 is inaccurate, Kofi Annan having not yet presented written guarantees on the acceptance by armed terrorist groups of a halt to all violence."

Meanwhile, State news agency SANA is proclaiming mass rallies in support of the regime:

Syrian citizens in all the Syrian provinces on Saturday flocked to the main squares to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the foundation of the Baath Arab Socialist Party.

The participants in the rallies expressed the Syrian people, army and leadership's steadfastness in the face of the conspiracy hatched against Syria.

SANA also features an article that 15 members of the security forces, including two Colonels and two Lieutenant Colonels, were buried on Saturday.

The news agency says the dead men "were targeted by armed terrorist groups while on duty in Aleppo, Damascus Countryside, Daraa, [and] Homs".

0910 GMT: Yemen's international airport has reopened after it was closed yesterday by an attack by gunmen loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Saturday's incident was triggered by the dismissal of Saleh-era officials and military commanders by President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Among those fired was General Mohamed Saleh al-Ahmar, commander of the Air Force and half-brother of Saleh.

Ahmar reportedly threatened to shoot down any planes using the airport unless he was reinstated. It is not clear whether he has now agreed to be replaced.

0800 GMT: A new photo of Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, now on Day 60 of his hunger strike and in a military hospital, has been posted. He is conscious but extremely gaunt.

0622 GMT: Britain's Daily Mail reports that Queen Elizabeth II of England has invited Bahrain's King Hamad to her Diamond Jubilee banquet in May at Windsor Castle.

0615 GMT: On Day 60 of the hunger strike of detained Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, we await further news on his condition.

There also has been no development since Saturday afternoon's report, put out by the Bahrain State news agency, that the Foreign Minister had received a letter from his Danish counterpart asking for the Danish-Bahraini national Alkhawaja --- imprisoned for life last year for his dissent --- to be freed and allowed to go to Denmark. The Danish Ambassador also saw the hunger striker on Saturday.

Last night Alkhawaja's daughter Zainab was detained for the second time in three days as she again stood outside the medical hospital, calling out to her father. She was taken to the security office of the complex and then to a Manama police station before she was released hours later.

0545 GMT: On Saturday --- three days before the Assad regime has said it will begin implementing the "peace plan" of United Nations envoy Kofi Annan --- , 127 people died, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees of Syria. Fifty-nine of the dead were in Hama Province, 28 in Homs Province, 24 in Idlib Province, and 14 in the Aleppo suburbs.

There were few specific details, but claims and video pointed to the killing of dozens of residents of Latamnah in Hama Province, and heavy shelling were reported in the Hama, Homs, and Idlib areas.