Yemen Opinion: The Unfinished Revolution (Karman)

Pro-Reform Protest in Sanaa, 10 June 2011We call on American officials to engage with the leaders of Yemen’s democracy movement and abandon their misplaced investment in the old regime’s security apparatus, which has killed more innocent women and children than terrorists.

We understand America’s concerns about terrorism and recognize your right to attack terrorist sanctuaries. We have no objection to agreements that protect your security interests. We only ask that you respect international standards on human rights and the Yemeni people’s rights to freedom and justice.

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Syria, Yemen (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Defiance and "Reforms"

1620 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration in Homs in Syria today:

See also Syria Video Special: The Latest from Friday's Protests

1510 GMT: Bahrain's Minister of Justice has said it has "taken the necessary legal procedures in order to lift the ban" on the Wa'ad Party after the opposition group "expressed keenness to promote security, stability, and national unity and take part in the comprehensive National Consensus Dialogue due to start on July 1".

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Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Standing Down

View LccSy: Syria Protests June 17, 2011 ‎ in a larger map Activists records a map of today's protests in Syria.

See also Syria Video Special: The Latest from Friday's Protests

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1655 GMT: Anthony Shadid summarises for The New York Times:

Tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Damascus’s suburbs and three of Syria’s five largest cities on Friday, in a weekly show of defiance against President Bashar al-Assad. Activists said at least 19 people were killed.

Security forces fired on protesters in Homs, one of Syria most restive locales, and the police and protesters fought in Deir al-Zour, a large city in the east. But thousands were permitted to demonstrate in Kiswa, a town south of Damascus and carry banners that read, “Leave!” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”

Some opposition figures had speculated that the government might try to bring down the weekly death toll, which surged past 100 on one Friday, in anticipation of a speech Mr. Assad is expected to give as early as Sunday. Syrian officials have portrayed the address as significant, though many in the opposition said their expectations were low.

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Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Maintaining the Pressure

Tanks surround Jisr al-Shughour in northwest Syria

2015 GMT: A protest in Idlib Province in northwest Syria condemns military occupations:

1925 GMT: Back from a break to find that Spain has expelled the Libyan Ambassador, Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni, "because the Qaddafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population."

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Yemen Analysis: Why the US Death-by-Drone Strategy Will Not Work (Johnsen)

There are many more Islamists in Yemen --- people who went abroad to fight in Afghanistan or Iraq --- than there are members of Al Qa'eda in the Arabian Peninsula. 

Why?

Because many of those who went abroad to fight did so to defend Muslim lands from western military aggression and when they returned they disagreed with AQAP's claim that Yemen is a legitimate theater of jihad. 

With the US launching bombs into Yemen many more individuals will join up with AQAP for the same reason they went abroad to fight: to defend their land from what they see as Western military aggression. 

As if this wasn't bad enough the US is taking it one step further and, according to the Wall Street Journal, will be targeting people according to their "pattern of life."

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Yemen Feature: Who Tried to Kill President Saleh? (Phillips)

By joining the opposition movement, Ali Mohsen and other defectors from the regime have not necessarily heralded a new era for the Yemeni people. Instead, they appear to be settling old scores.

The inner workings of Saleh's Yemen are incredibly opaque. Think of a series of concentric circles with him at their center: That's the regime.

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Yemen Snapshot: CIA Planning to Expand US Drone Campaign (Gorman/Entous)

The Central Intelligence Agency is preparing to launch a secret program to kill al Qaeda militants in Yemen, where months of antigovernment protests, an armed revolt and the attempted assassination of the president have left a power vacuum, U.S. officials say.

The covert program that would give the U.S. greater latitude than the current military campaign is the latest step to combat the growing threat from al Qaeda's outpost in Yemen, which has been the source of several attempted attacks on the U.S. and is home to an American-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki, who the U.S. sees as a significant militant threat.

The CIA program will be a major expansion of U.S. counterterrorism efforts in Yemen. Since December 2009, U.S. strikes in Yemen have been carried out by the U.S. military with intelligence support from CIA. Now, the spy agency will carry out aggressive drone strikes itself alongside the military campaign, which has been stepped up in recent weeks after a nearly year-long hiatus.

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Syria, Yemen, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: An Attack with Helicopters

1745 GMT: Regime forces and insurgents have been fighting in Zawiyah, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Tripoli, shutting the coastal highway to Tunisia.

Activists on social media are claiming at least 30 people have been killed.

"The situation is very bad in Zawiyah. There's been fierce fighting since the morning between the Gaddafi forces and the rebels," said a resident.

The opposition held Zawiyah for a few weeks this spring before the town fell to the regime.

1735 GMT: Yemeni authorities say the army has killed 21 Al Qa'eda members in Abyan Province in the south.

Nine Yemeni soldiers were reportedly slain.

The provincial capital Zinjibar was occupied by insurgents last month.

1730 GMT: Residents and refugees from the besieged Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour report ongoing fighting. One said, “Helicopters and tanks are bombing Jisr from all the sides and the situation is extremely miserable --- they are even targeting cars carrying civilians and the wounded.”

Claimed footage of attack helicopters above the town:

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Yemen, Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) LiveBlog: And the Downbeat Goes On

View LCCSyria Protest Map June 10, 2011 in a larger map

Activists have created this map of protests today during "Syria's Day of Clans"

2055 GMT: A doctor has told Reuters that the death toll from the regime bombardment of opposition-held Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, has risen to 31. More than 110 people are wounded.

1739 GMT: Earlier, we reported that helicopters were being used to shoot civilians in the streets of Ma'ara Al Nu'man. Another source now says that security forces are going door to door, searching for defected sodliers. 

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Yemen, Libya, Syria (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Bombings, Sit-ins, and a False Defection

2026 GMT: Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has stated that he is investigating the charge that Colonel Gaddafi supplied his soldiers with Viagra in order to use rape to punish women. He is contemplating adding a charge of mass rape to Gaddafi's indictment.  

2003 GMT: Something is happening in the Yemeni capital Sana'a.

Yemen State TV has announced that President Saleh's operation was successful. Ain News is reporting that a crowd of President Saleh's supporters have started shooting into the air. Panicked opposition members are reporting that they are fleeing into their homes to escape any potential violence.

Rumors appear to be spreading that Saleh has returned to Yemen, but these are almost certainly false, sparked by the celebration.

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