Syria Feature: Can the Opposition Get Its Act Together? (Vela)

Opposition members at launch of Syrian National Council (Photo: AP)Omar Muqdad can usually be found smoking and drinking coffee all night in an empty room in Istanbul or Ankara. As a longtime Syrian activist, he can access senior Syrian opposition leaders, as well as their network of supporters around the world, with a phone call. He enjoys a sterling reputation among the activists and defected soldiers who risk their lives daily along the Turkey-Syria border.

But over the months, Muqdad's frustration with the Syrian National Council (SNC), the body intended to serve as the political representation of the Syrian opposition, has grown. He has diligently traveled around Turkey, arranging coverage of the Syrian uprising by major media outlets, holding meetings in Western embassies, and coordinating with activists inside the country. In the meantime, he has come to see the SNC as disorganized, disconnected from the Syrians on the ground, and out of step with the broad spectrum of Syrian society.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Regime's Dilemma in Hama

Claimed footage of a protest last night in Hama, telling the President, "To Hell with You, Bashar"

2015 GMT: David Smith reports for The Guardian of London, "Tripoli: A Stronghold by Day, A Battleground at Night":

Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are now regular night-time clashes in the Libyan capital. .

The raids have turned parts of Tripoli, a city with no shortage of privately owned firearms, into a no-go area after dark. The man, who said he has stocked up on diesel in readiness for "zero hour", added: "Normally wedding parties go on until 2am, but now they finish at 8pm. No one goes out after sunset. They all stay at home."

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Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Slow Build-Up

2005 GMT: Two clips of demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, with a large Shi'a population, in support of the uprising in Bahrain:

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