Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote of Uncertainty

See also Syria 1st-Hand: A Day's Existence in Homs
Saturday's Egypt, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: A Vote in Cairo, Violence beyond Damascus

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2055 GMT: Yemen. Government official says insurgents have abandoned one of the last cities that they have held in the south for more than a year.

The Ansar al-Sharia fighters pulled out of Azzan in Shabwa Province in the face of bombardments and airstrikes in a US-backed Government offensive.

2030 GMT: Syria. Ahmed Bahaddou, a video journalist working for The Associated Press, has been wounded while filming clashes between insurgents and regime forces in northern Syria.

Bahaddou, a Belgian citizen, was struck in the shoulder and evacuated to London. He is in stable condition.

1940 GMT: Bahrain. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has expressed its "grave concern regarding the continuous use of excessive force against civilians" by poice, citing the shooting of 5-year-old Ahmed Mansoor Al Naham (previously named as "Ali Hassan" on EA) last week.

Al Naham was at his father's fish stall when riot police fired on demonstrators in AlDair village. He has hit with birdshot in the face and has lost the use his left eye.

1900 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria have updated the death toll to 51, including 15 in the Damascus suburbs and 15 in Homs.

1628 GMT: Syria. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria claim 43 people have died today, including 12 in the Damascus suburbs and 11 in Homs.

1416 GMT: Syria. Activists claim at least 11 people have been killed and dozens wounded in shelling of sections of Homs.

The activists said about 85 per cent of Syria's third-largest city was being bombarded with mortar rounds and heavy machine guns. They claimed that the hospitals were controlled by pro-regime shabiha militia.

1410 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Protesters in Qatif in Eastern Province celebrate the death of Crown Prince Nayef by burning his posters.

There have been recurrent demonstrations in Eastern Province, which has a large Shi'a population, over denial of rights, economic deprivation, and detentions:

Meanwhile, the Women2Drive movement has postponed a day of action, marking the first anniversary of their campaign, until Friday because of the Crown Prince's death.

1320 GMT: Libya. Claimed footage of security forces, with tear gas, dispersing a march in AlDaih on Saturday night:

1010 GMT: Libya. The Government has despatched troops to bring a cease-fire to six days of clashes in the west of the country between fighters from the town of Zintan and members of the al-Mashashia tribe.

At least 16 people have reportedly been slain in almost a week fo clashes.

The Zintan militia were part of the insurgency against the Qaddafi regime last year, whie the al-Mashashia tribe chose not to join the uprising. Fighting in December killed at least four people and erupted again this week when a Zintan fighter was shot dead.

1000 GMT: Tunisia. The chairman of the Zitouna Mosque Scientific Committee, Houcine Laabidi, has been suspended after he condemned painting and sculpture at an art exhibition as “blasphemous” and said the artists were “infidels" who should be put to death.

Laabidi interpreted Nadia Jelassi’s piece of art, “Celui qui n’a pas..." as an affront to Muslim women: “That painting was disgraceful, accusing veiled, believing women of being adulterous because they pictured them stoned.”

The Ministry of Religious Affairs responded:

What Laabidi said does not represent the Ministry of Religious Affairs. On the contrary, we condemn what he said. He is the only one responsible for this decision. Inciting violence is a crime punishable and proscribed by law and the ministry will act upon that.

This chairman will be suspended from service. No one can randomly judge and sentence people. We have the judiciary department in charge of sentencing people.

Last week Salafists, who pursue a conservative interpretation of Islam, stormed an art exhibition, prompting clashes with security forces and a curfew in the capital Tunis.

0645 GMT: Syria. Saturday's announcement that the United Nations observers are suspending their mission amid escalating violence takes its place in today's news: activists says Sunday has begun with 11 people killed across the country.

0545 GMT: Egypt. The good news is that there was not much to report on the first day of voting in the Presidential run-off between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last Vice President of the Mubarak regime. There was a patchwork of turnout, with some areas reporting healthy queues of voters and others claimed to be near-empty. There were the typical claims from each camp and from "commentators" of illegal campaigning --- the most creative was the assertion tha voters were "tricked into using pens with disappearing ink so their choice on the ballot would vanish before it was counted" --- but there was no news of violence.

The bad news is that no one knows, in the changing context of Egyptian politics, what the vote means. Thursday's suspension of Parliament, with the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces claiming the power to make laws, puts the next President in the position of not knowing if he is master of any authority or merely servant to the SCAF. 

One expert's opinion unwittingly cast the light of doubt rather than clarity: "I think that in the coming days, weeks, SCAF will issue what we call a supplementary constitutional declaration by which it will try to further specify the powers of the new president." 

Meanwhile, various factions in Egyptian politics, including the Muslim Brotherhood --- whose Freedom and Justice Party were the largest bloc in the now-dormant Parliament --- consider but offer no ideas on what move to make beyond the end of the voting.