Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Trying to Stem the Protests

A police jeep hits a man in Salmabad in Bahraini and keeps speeding away, the man clinging to the hood

See also Yemen Feature: Locals "We Have Bigger Problems Than Al Qa'eda"
Bahrain Feature: The 20 Doctors' Reply to Their Prison Sentences
Saturday's Syria, Bahrain, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Months of Protests and Violence

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1930 GMT: Five opposition political societies have announced a "human chain" in solidarity with detained medical staff and other political prisoners. The demonstration will begin at 4:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

1555 GMT: Medical workers have said that people injured in fighting in Libya's besieged city of Sirte are dying on the operating table because fuel for the hospital generator has run out.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Punishment and Protests

Protest in Anadan in Aleppo Province tonight, chanting about Syrian President Assad, "Bashar is a traitor"

See also Syria Video Special: The Friday Protests
Yemen Interview: President Saleh "I Will Retire When There Are Elections"
Syria Special: #MediaFail --- It's Not Yet a Civil War
Bahrain 1st-Hand: "48 Hours in Sanabis"
Thursday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Showdown Looms?

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2010 GMT: An EA source in Bahrain reports blocked roads in many villages, some blocked by protesters to prevent police getting in, others blocked by police to prevent protesters getting out. The source continues, "There are clashes between protesters and police in many of the villages. On my round now I passed on at least seven protests/clashes."

2000 GMT: A lower-than-expected turnout --- at least for protest organisers --- in Tahrir Square in Cairo today.

Thousands came out for the rally, with most stages set up by leftist and revolutionary youth movements, chanting against the ruling Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and its head, Field-Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi: "Tell the truth! Will you nominate yourself for the Presidency?" demonstrators shouted in reference to SCAF chief Field-Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Many protesters wore shirts with stickers reading “No to SCAF” and carried signs bearing anti-SCAF slogans. One banner depicted a turtle, reflecting popular frustration with the slow pace of change during the post-Mubarak transitional period.

One bright spot amidst the disappoointment: Hollywood actor and political activist Sean Penn, waving an Egyptian flag, put in an appearance.

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Egypt Opinion: What Have We Achieved? (Al Malky)

No matter how cynical we are about the indications regarding the final outcome of these trials [of President Hosni Mubarak, his sons, and members of his regime], we must admit that had it not been for the colossal events of the 18-day uprising, such a scenario would have continued being a figment of our wildest dreams.

But beyond the trials, has anything in Egypt really changed?

No.

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Egypt Letter: Activist Wael Ghonim Asks Military Rulers For Change, Dialogue, and Democracy

Wael Ghonim in Tahrir Square, Feb 2011After weeks and months, the mode of governance in our nation has not fundamentally changed and the excuse has been “stability,” and it did not matter if the result was stability at the bottom of the pit. No dialogue has engaged the youth, who have been angry at the significantly slow pace of fulfilling the revolution’s demands; the very revolution that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has not missed a chance to show pride in having safeguarded. In fact, some of these young Egyptians have been arrested and detained in military prisons after a military trial, while the key figures of the former regime continued to appear before civil courts despite the atrocity of their crimes. Accusations of treachery have targeted individuals who oppose SCAF policies under the premise that they are trying to sabotage the trust between the people and the Army. However, some of those accused were prominent members of the frontlines of a revolution that the SCAF has described as one of the greatest historical moments in the life of our nation.

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: So What Does Protest Mean?

See also Libya Snapshot: The TV Producer Keeping Qaddafi on the Air
Turkey-Israel Feature: Why There is a Downward Spiral in Relations
Friday's Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Expecting Defiance, Watching for Defections

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2035 GMT: Footage of a protest in Idlib in northwest Syria tonight:

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Egypt Opinion: "Lest We Forget" Why the Revolution Is Worthwhile (Salem)

There is a general feeling of malaise and melancholy affecting Jan25 protesters, for they feel as if they have accomplished nothing: that the SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] has halted the revolution and ended it, and it was all for naught. Now this kind of talk infuriates me, not because of its self-pitying whiny nature from otherwise strong people, but because it’s categorically not true. Let me count the ways....

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Hello to Ramadan, Hello to Turmoil

Despite violence, a large crowd protests last night in Lattakia, Syria.

See also Syria Video Essay: 1st Day of Ramadan was a Day of Chaos
Egypt Video Special: Military Breaks Up Tahrir Square Sit-In
Live Audio From Hama: Shelling Continues for Second Night

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2056 GMT: We close the liveblog with this last collection of audio and video. We will be collecting night protest videos and posting them either late tonight or early tomorrow. {Editor's note --- collection now moved to separate entry, "Syria Video Special: Another Defiant Night of Ramadan Protests".]

2015 GMT: A loud, and large, group of protesters leave a mosque and pour into the streets of Midan, in the heart if Damascus tonight:

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Egypt Video Special: Military Breaks Up Tahrir Square Sit-In

Also See Our Live Blog of the Event: Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Regime's Deadly Gamble

Al Jazeera describes what happened early on Monday, as the Egyptian military cleared Tahrir Square, Cairo, of all protesters, breaking the long-standing sit-in protest there:

The Army arrives outside the square

As the army arrived, some groups tried to form a human chain to stop them from entering the Tahrir Square:

The army moves in

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Can the Regime "Lose" Homs?

2100 GMT: Night-time protest in Daraa in southern Syria tonight, "Oh Homs, Daraa is with you until death":

And a demonstration in the Tayba Al-Imam section in Hama also expresses solidarity:

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Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Regime Losing Control?

2025 GMT: Syria state news agency SANA is highlighting pro-regime rallies throughout the country today, including marches in Damascus, Baniyas, "stressing rejection of all forms of foreign interference in Syria's affairs".

The demonstrators unfurled large Syrian flags, sang the national anthem, and chanted in support of President Assad's reform programme.

2010 GMT: Footage from Morocco's largest city Casablanca of today's pro-reform demonstration:

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