Friday, March 25, 2011 at 17:12 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2015 GMT: Graffiti in Syria, "Your turn has come, doctor", referring to President (and ophthalmologist) Bashar Al-Assad:
2005 GMT: Video of the protest by about 2000 people in front of State TV in Cairo today (see 1615 GMT):
"This is a limited humanitarian intervention, not war," White House Middle East strategist Dennis Ross, National Security Council strategic planning official Derek Chollet, and two military officials told a group of outside foreign policy and Middle East experts during a briefing at the White House Roosevelt Room Tuesday.
"We were looking at 'Srebrenica on steroids' --- the real or imminent possibility that up to a 100,000 people could be massacred, and everyone would blame us for it," Ross explained.
Last week, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu wrote for The Guardian of London about his approach to foreign policy.
The context, Davutoglu explained, was a “natural” history, “flowing” from “abnormalities” --- such as the division of peoples of the region by colonialism and Cold War --- to democracies spreading in the Middle East. In the course of time, he says, an ordinary Turk or Arab can change the history but you are bound to lose if you resist the “momentum of the history” which is giving the “dignity” of this region back.
AKP, Ahmet Davutoglu, Bashar al-Assad, Iran, Libya, NATO, Namik Tan, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Syria, The Guardian, Turkey Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 8:22 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 
Daraa, Syria2105 GMT: Libyan State TV is reporting airstrikes target residential and military areas in Tripoli and firing from anti-aircraft positions.
2100 GMT: About 500 Jordanians have set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital Amman to press their demands for the removal of the Prime Minister (see 0805 GMT), wider public freedoms, reforms over the selection of the Parliament, and dissolution of the security services.
The group is calling itself "Youth of March 24".
I'm not saying that the news on Libyan State TV is far from "fair and balanced", but this fellow seems to out-do even Mr Glenn Beck for a unique perspective on events. In the middle of the news, he pulls out an AK-47 and declares, "In the name of Almighty God, I pledge to you, my Dear Leader, that I will sacrifice my last breath, my last bullet, my last drop of blood, last baby and child for you."
Fox News, Glenn Beck, Libya Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 9:29 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 2215: A resident of Daraa in southern Syria says, after a day in which 15 people were killed by security forces:"The city is empty, only the army is in the street. Tomorrow we will be more and more in the streets."
2200 GMT: At least 40 people have been killed in clashes between pro- and anti-regime tribesmen in the northern Yemeni governorate of Al-Jawf over the last five days.
Anti-regime tribesmen took over control of the 115th Infantry Division after its commander, Brigadier Abdurabu Hussein, refused to hand over the division to Brigadier Ali Haidara al-Henshi, appointed by President Ali Abdullah Saleh as a replacement.
An official with a non-government organisation said, "Strategic military positions in the governorate are now controlled by anti-government tribesmen and Houthi gunmen. About 20 troops and Houthi gunmen were killed in the latter's attack on the contingent."
2145 GMT: Video from Zintan in northwest Libya, as opposition fighters celebrate atop the regime's tanks and military vehicles. Soon after the filming, the cameraman was killed in the fighting:
I spoke with BBC Radio WM tonight about Muammar Qaddafi and the coalition efforts to remove him from power, talking about the Libyan leader's background and attempting to answer the question, "How long can this go on?"
The item starts at the 1:17.00 mark.
Libya, Muammar Qaddafi Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 11:10 | Scott Lucas in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran 1957 GMT: Protesters gathered for a fifth day in Deraa, Syria, where authorities have arrested a leading opposition figure, Louai Hussein. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that, "his house was broken into. The door was smashed. His fate is unknown."
Hundreds gathered under very tight security, and the AFP is reporting that their photographer and videographer were attacked by security forces.
Perhaps the most important news, however, is the rumor that the region's governor, Faisal Kalthoum, has been fired, which was one of the demands of the protesters. This has not been confirmed.
1930 GMT: Al Jazeera English's James Bays filed this report earlier today from the front line outside Ajdabiya in eastern Libya. He reports an attack near his position and says, "No one really is making any progress. The opposition are where they were 24 hours ago....They are lightly armed volunteers....A professional officer on the rebel side told me they're very brave but to the point of being suicidal. Gaddafi forces are much more heavily armed. The opposition have the numbers and they seem to have the momentum but on the other side the Gaddafi forces have the power."
1915 GMT: Thanks to James Miller for taking the LiveBlog through the afternoon.
Libyan State TV is claiming live coverage of the capital under fire, with the presenter saying, "Tripoli is being bombarded now." The sky was lit with fire and the sound of anti-aircraft weaponry could be heard.
1. The action in Libya was authorized by the United Nations Security Council. That in Iraq was not. By the UN Charter, military action after 1945 should either come as self-defense or with UNSC authorization. Most countries in the world are signatories to the charter and bound by its provisions.
2. The Libyan people had risen up and thrown off the Qaddafi regime, with some 80-90 percent of the country having gone out of his hands before he started having tank commanders fire shells into peaceful crowds. It was this vast majority of the Libyan people that demanded the UN no-fly zone. In 2002-3 there was no similar popular movement against Saddam Hussein.
Al Jazeera English, Libya, Yemen 
