Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Launch of an Opposition?

A woman with a Bahrain flag and then other protesters defy security forces, who respond by firing tear gas

See also Syria Video Special: The Protests of Eid Al-Adha

Syria 1st-Hand: A Motorcycle Ride to Homs
Syria Video and Transcript: The Speech by Opposition Leader Ghalioun
Saturday's Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Running Down a Protest

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2040 GMT: A special video from Syria today, with tens of thousands of people turning out for a protest rally in Jebel el Zawiya in the northwest:

1720 GMT: Activists have raised today's death toll at the hands of Syrian security forces to 11 --- nine in Homs, one in Hama, and one in Idlib Province.

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Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: And There Will Be Marches....

2118 GMT: The cynics said that the Syrian President was trying to buy time when he signed a deal two days ago with the Arab League. Today, the Syrian people tested the claims made by the regime, taking to the streets in nearly every major city and in every region across the country.

And now we have our answer from the regime: as many as 25 civilians are dead.

For two days, the video evidence, verified by shots of newspapers, protest signs, landmarks, and comparison against eyewitness accounts, has pointed towards a single conclusion. The Syrian military regime, led by Bashar al Assad, has no interest in negotiating, reforming, or ceding power. Today the regime sent two messages, as it showed that if you surrender then you may be spared, but if you continue to resist, we will shoot.

The first message was sent via State TV (SANA), but the regime has so little credibility that the US State Department advised Syrians not to take up Assad's offer of amnesty. The second message was sent with weapons, troops and tanks --- the instruments that the regime has used all along.

So, we have a return to a tag line we've written many times since March. The protesters, undeterred by violence, refuse to give in, the people want the "fall of the regime," and the regime, thus far, refuses to fall. So...what happens next?

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Bahrain Feature: A New "Martyr"? The Death of Ali Hassan Al Daihi

Ali Hassan Al Daihi in HospitalIt appears tonight that Bahrain has another high-profile dispute over the death of a civilian, allegedly at the hands of riot police.

According to the opposition party Al Wefaq, the father of its Deputy Secretary General, Sheikh Hussain Al Daihi, was beaten on Wednesday night as he returned home. Ali Hassan Al Daihi, found on the floor of the house by one of his sons, said he had been assaulted --- his son tried to leave to confront the police but his dad stopped him. There was a deep wound on the back of Ali Hassan Al Daihi's head and bruises on his forehead and around his eyes. Blood was flowing from his mouth.

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