Syria Audio Special: How Does This End?

"What we haven't seen yet is large-scale political defection. But those who have defected have talked about the fact that there are many others who are willing to defect, who are beginning to question whether or not Assad can survive this. And, you know, the economic impact is just incredible on the country. And it's really only a matter of time before the defectors or before more leaders decide to jump ship on Assad."

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Protests in Homs Defy Violence

1859 GMT: This video reportedly shows the aftereffects of the shelling of Jabal al Zawiya, Idlib province, by Syrian forces yesterday. Cars are on fire, bullet casings litter the ground, and a nearby house is ransacked:

1836 GMT: This video, reportedly taken today, shows women in Taiz, Yemen, chanting, "Oh Sanaa revolt revolt, towards the Presidential Palace."

1748 GMT: More video, reportedly showing protests in Hama today. One of the signs clearly reads, "SOS."

1744 GMT: Now Lebanon describes this video: "A YouTube video purportedly filmed on Thursday in the Homs area of Bab al-Sibaa shows many soldiers deploying on the street as gunfire can be heard in the background":

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Homs Under Siege

1939 GMT: More video claiming to show protests in Al Kiswah, Syria:

1929 GMT: Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the UN, spoke with NPR today. (Audio will be available here after 6 PM ET). NPR's Andy Carvin gives us a rolling a transcript, with commentary, including a back and forth with EA's James Miller and Foreign Policy's Blake Hounshell, via Twitter:

Syrian ambassador to US: "Extreme fundamentalist Muslims are waging a war of insurgency" against

Syria ambassador: We've allowed reporters into Syria "time and again." Hmm.

Syrian ambassador on Syrians: "What unites us is far more than what divides us apart."

Syrian amb to man who says brother was killed. "This is unfortunate and I don't want to spend my time discussing preposterous stories."

Syrian man not buying it; he argues back. Ambassador ignores comments, complains media gives license to false stories.

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Defections Up, Dictators Down

1931 GMT: Two more videos of the large protests in Aleppo, at the funeral for Sheikh Alsgayna. Now Lebanon also has received reports of the same protest.

This could be VERY significant. The death of a religious leader, at the hands of the Syrian security forces, will not go lightly. The size of the funeral procession, and the presence of protests, combined with reports that the protest was broken up inside the cemetery, would suggest that this could become a local rallying call:

1924 GMT: A key piece of evidence. Earlier we reported that a large protest for a slain protester was disrupted in a cemetery in Aleppo. This video appears to show a very large protest at the funeral for Sheikh Alsgayna, killed by security forces in recent days. It's not video of the clashes, but it's evidence that there was a very large rally today in Aleppo:

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Syria Video Special: Death Rather Than Humiliation

11. Tanks entering Idlib. The first video is Kevromh, the next a very large convoy entering Idlib city:

10. Irbeen, Damascus, gunfire rings out and protesters scatter. At least one person was reportedly killed:

9. This video claims to show anti-aircraft guns firing into the city of Deir Ez Zor, yesterday:

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Syria Special: The Resignation of Hama's Attorney General

The defection of such a high-ranking and well respected member of the regime, Adnan Bakour, is already sending shockwaves around Syria, and the globe. But perhaps just as important are the astonishing claims that Mr. Bakour makes, new rights abuse allegations that surpassed the scale of anything we've reported so far.

Among the claims: 72 prisoners have died in Hama's central prison (nearly matching Amnesty International's total of 88, a number that will surely rise). 420 people lie in a single mass grave, and Bakour was asked to testify that they had been killed by "armed gangs." 320 people have been tortured by security personnel, 17 of whom died. 10,000 peaceful protesters have been imprisoned in Hama alone.

These claims, if verified, will dramatically raise the death toll in Syria, and Hama, as they are not included in the number, 2200 according to the UN, of people who have died so far, most of them on the streets, not in the prisons. But Bakour's claims also send another shiver through those covering this story...

If these are only the numbers from Hama, how bad are things in Deir Ez Zor, occupied for weeks, or any of the other cities in Syria?

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) Liveblog: Cracks in the Regime

2003 GMT: We have posted a separate video entry, Syria Video Special: A Protest Movement Renewed.

1927 GMT: There have been massive protests in Maree (Aleppo), Idlib City, Homs, Daraa, Douma (Damascus), Ugarit, and other locations across Syria. We will post a video special in short order, but once again large scale protests have covered many areas of the country today.

1921 GMT: A large protest at another funeral in Maree, 35 km north of Aleppo:

1914 GMT: We've received two videos from activists in Al Hoole, Homs. This first is fairly standard, a large armored anti-aircraft machine gun, a dangerous anti-personnel weapon, positioned in a residential neighborhood. The second video, however, appears to show snipers building defenses on rooftops in the same neighborhood.

1907 GMT: Amnesty International has released new accusations of human rights abuses leveled against followers of Muammar Qaddafi:

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