Middle East Today: Tunisia --- Clashes as Salafist Conference Banned

Thousands of police and soldiers clashed with demonstrators at the main religious centre in the central city of Kairouan after the Government banned the annual conference of the Salafist organisation Ansar al-Sharia.

One protester died and several were injured amid security checkpoints and patrols. Protesters threw stones at police, who fired tear gas in response.

Kairouan hospital reported that five civilians and four policemen were injured. The State news agency reported that a 27-year-old was killed and 11 policemen wounded.

Authorities had refused a permit for the conference, calling it a threat “to security and public order".

In Ettadamon, a suburb of the capital Tunis, police fired tear gas and shots into the air to disperse about 500 stone-throwing protesters, some of whom set fire to cars, lowered the Tunisian flag, and replaced it with a black Islamist banner.

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Photo: Ako Rasheed/ReutersIraq: Security Forces Raid Farm of Sunni Tribal Leader

Security forces have raided the farm of prominent Sunni tribal leader Sheikh Ali Hatem al-Suleiman, seeking to arrest him.

Al-Suleiman, emir of the Dulaim tribes, has been instrumental in setting up the "Army of Pride and Dignity", a tribal force in Ramadi and elsewhere in Anbar Province, west of Baghdad.

The emir said that dozens of Army of Pride and Dignity members later tracked down the Iraqi army convoy that conducted the raid and clashed with it, freeing three farmers who had been seized.

"This is it; enough is enough. We will attack every Iraqi army checkpoint in Anbar if they don't withdraw from Anbar province immediately," Al-Suleiman said. "We will not accept any talks or negotiations with the government anymore."

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Death of Vendor Who Set Himself on Fire

Tunisian President Ben Ali at bedside of Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire over his economic situation, in December 2010

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1410 GMT: Egypt. The Government has launched an appeal against a court ruling suspending Parliamentary elections due to start on 22 April.

President Morsi's office had said that would not challenge the verdict.

A judicial official said the High Administrative Court will rule on the appeal on Sunday.

Last week the lower court ruled that the law governing the elections was illegal and that its passage by the upper house of Parliament was procedurally improper.

1400 GMT: Israel and Palestine. The Israeli High Court of Justice is due to rule on the State's right to declare ownership of 1000 acres of undeveloped land located in West Bank settlement of Efrat.

Palestinians claim the land belongs to them.

The case is seen by some as a bellwether of the Israeli Government's plans to support Jewish settlements in the controversial E1 area near Jerusalem. Palestinians claim this would effectively cut off access from one part of the West Bank to another.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Division over Powers for "Citizen's Arrests"

Egypt Prosecutor Talaat Abdullah1905 GMT:Egypt. Political activist Hassan Mustafa has been sentenced to two years in prison, accused of physically attacking a prosecutor.

Mustafa was arrested on 21 January after he slapped the prosecutor on the cheek.

1650 GMT:Bahrain. Five policemen were in court today, on charges relating to the deaths of Ali Isa Ibrahim Saqer and Zakariya Rashid Hassan Al-Asheri in April 2011. Both Saqer and Al-Asheri were found to have been tortured to death at the Dry Dock Detention Centre, whilst under the custody of the Ministry of Interior, according to the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry.

Two policemen were found guilty of the manslaughter of Ali Saqer and sentenced to ten years. The three other policemen were found innocent of "failing to report the crime" of Saqer's murder.

All five policemen were found innocent on charges relating to the death of Al-Asheri.

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Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Court Suspends Parliamentary Elections

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2025 GMT: Tunisia. Prime-Minister designate Ali Larayedh has presented a new coalition Government to President Moncef Marzouki after two weeks of difficult negotiations.

Earlier today, the hopes of Larayedh and his Ennadha Party, the leading faction in the Government, appeared to be dashed when three political parties that had been asked to join announced they were pulling out of the talks. That left only Ennahda and its secular allies in the previous Government --- Marzouki's Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol -- -- to discuss a new Cabinet and a proposed Government programme.

Tonight's announcement comes a day before a Constitutional deadline to announce the proposed Government.

The current political crisis was sparked by the 6 February protest of opposition politician Chokri Belaid and subsequent protests. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali resigned when he was unable to form an apolitical Government of technocrats.

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2111 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Claimed footage from a sit-in protest by women and children of political detainees, burning the picture of the Minister of Interior:

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1526 GMT:Iraq. Thousands of protesters have continued to demonstrations in Ramadi against the Government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Rallies after Friday Prayers, with the theme "Iraq or Maliki" also took place in the capital city of Baghdad, the northern city of Mosul, and the central city of Fallujah.

Protests, largely made up of Sunnis, have been ongoing for weeks, with demands for the release of prisoners, an end to Government anti-terrorism policies, and a halt to the marginalising of minorities.

The rallies were sparked by the raid on 20 December 20 of the home and offices of Sunni Minister of Finance Rafi al-Issawi.

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Clashes Continue as Regime Claims Arrest of "Iran-Iraq-Lebanon Terror Cell"

"Third-day" funeral of 16-year-old Hassan AlJazeeri, killed by police on Thursday night

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1755 GMT: Saudi Arabia. Thirty Saudi women have become the first female members of the Shura Council, as they were sworn in before King Abdullah at his palace in the capital Riyadh.

The women are among 160 members of the advisory body.

"The development we are working at must be gradual," King Abdullah said. He recommended that the Council show "realism" in its discussions and allow "reason to prevail in issues [with which] it has to deal".

On 11 January, the King appointed the women, who include university graduates, human rights activists, and two princesses.

1749 GMT: Palestine. The Forum of Palestinian journalists has criticised Israeli forces for detaining three Palestinian journalists on Tuesday in Bethlehem.

The three men are Mamdouh Hamamreh, a reporter for the Al-Quds satellite channel; Samer Hamad, a cameraman for Palmedia news agency, and Abdul-Rahman Younos, a reporter for Al-Quds.com.

The arrests follow the claimed abduction of Mohamed Saba’na, a political caricaturist for Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper, after his return from a ocnference in Jordan.

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Tunisia (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Plan for New Government Collapses

Tunisia PM Hamadi Jebali2123 GMT: Bahrain. Meanwhile, the regime claims that their police were attacked by rioters and vandals, some of whom threw molotov cocktails:

(14) صور لأعمال الشغب والتخريب على شارع البديع في ختام عزاء متوفى بالديه twitter.com/moi_bahrain/st…

— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) February 19, 2013

2110 GMT: Bahrain. The Bahraini government is saying that it has arrested 8 members of a terror cell suspected of plotting against the government. Here is part of the press release, which can be read in full here:

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Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Thousands March as Clashes Continue

Opposition montage of the funeral march for 16-year-old Hassan AlJazeeri on Saturday

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2007 GMT: Egypt. The State Prosecutor has ordered the detention of an Islamic preacher on suspicion of insulting religion, following a complaint from a Christian activist.

Ahmed Abdullah, known as Abu Islam, is already on trial for tearing up a Bible during a protest outside the US embassy in Cairo in September over the American-produced film "The Innocence of Muslims", which denigrated the Prophet Mohammed.

1616 GMT: Egypt. The Ministry of Finance has said that funds allocated for diesel fuel subsidies have run out for the current year.

An official source within the ministry has said that meetings are being held with Ministry of Petroleum officials to solve the crisis. The two ministries are considering opening an additional source of funding for diesel subsidies through a law giving the Minister of Finance the power to approve additional credits.

The government's subsidies for diesel fuel are currently estimated at LE50 billion (about $7.43 billion).

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