![Live blog: recap](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/04/09/recap1.gif)
Here's a roundup of the latest developments:
Syria
• The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is preparing to evacuate wounded people and trapped civilians from Homs after both sides agreed to its request for a temporary pause in fighting.
• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is expected to discuss Syria at a meeting in Russia with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov next week.
• At least 20 Syrian soldiers were killed in the latest clashes with rebel fighters in the north-west province of Latakia, according to AFP citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
• Senior officers in Syria are ready to oust President Assad in order to preserve the Alawite sect, according to Albawaba news website. The report, which cannot be confirmed, hints that its source is the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
Egypt
• There are conflicting reports about the health of ex-president Hosni Mubarak. Earlier today he was said to be in a coma, though other sources say he is conscious and in a stable condition.
• The presidential election result is thought to hang on the outcome of appeals about voting irregularities. Both the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq are claiming victory. A declaration of the result, expected tomorrow, could be delayed.
Kuwait
• The constitutional court has ruled that parliamentary elections held last February were invalid and that the previous parliament should be reinstated. Earlier this week, the emir suspended parliament for a month following the resignations of two cabinet ministers under pressure from opposition MPs.
Syria: US secretary of state Hillary Clinton will have talks in Russia next week with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, AP reports. Discussion is likely focus on the crisis in Syria and efforts to get Iran to comply with international demands on its nuclear programme.
The private talks will take place on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia-Pacific foreign ministers to be held in St Petersburg on 28 June.
AP says Clinton's trip was planned before the Obama-Putin meeting last Monday but she and Lavrov are expected to build on that discussion, which ended without apparent agreement on how to end continuing violence in Syria.
totally new version of events to the New York Times:
Egypt: The Mubarak health drama (or non-drama?) continues. One of the ex-president's lawyers, Youssri Abdel Razeq, has given aWhat really happened, the lawyer said, was that Mr Mubarak had suffered a fall in the prison bathroom, which resulted in a blood clot on his neck, and that he had been removed from the prison at 5pm — long before the reports of his near-death experience began to appear.
"We were surprised at what we can call a media mania in Egypt last night," the lawyer said.
He said doctors had quickly given Mr Mubarak medicine to remove the blood clot in his neck, he underwent an MRI test, and was in stable condition.
Syria: ICRC and Red Crescent teams are on standby to move into Homs, but the evacuation has not begun, a spokesman said in an email update.
He added: "We can't speculate on when teams might gain entry to the affected areas, including whether it will happen today."
Syria: The ICRC has emphasised that the agreed pause in fighting Homs needs to be put into practice before any evacuation can occur.
A spokesman said: "Allowing civilians to move to safer areas is one of the obligations that falls on parties to a conflict."
He added: "We made a request yesterday for a pause in the fighting to allow an evacuation of civilians to take place. It's the second time we have sought such a pause since the Syrian government agreed in early May to consider such requests. Government forces and the armed opposition have agreed to the pause, which needs to be put into practice to allow evacuations to occur."
Earlier the ICRC put out this statement:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are attempting to evacuate and otherwise assist people stranded in several neighbourhoods of Homs city by the ongoing fighting.
"Fighting has been raging for more than 10 days between the Syrian Army and armed opposition groups in several neighbourhoods of Homs city," said Béatrice Mégevand-Roggo, the ICRC's head of operations for the Near and Middle East.
"Hundreds of civilians are stuck in the old city of Homs, unable to leave and find refuge in safer areas, because of the ongoing armed confrontations. It is critical that the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent be immediately given safe and unhindered access to those in need of life-saving assistance."
The ICRC made a request on 19 June for a temporary pause in the fighting to the Syrian authorities and to different opposition groups. The authorities officially agreed to our request, and the opposition groups gave assurances that they would respect the pause. The ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent are ready to enter the old city of Homs and the neighbourhoods of al-Qarabees, al-Qusour, Jurat al-Shayyah and al-Khalidiya.
"Our first priority, together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, is to evacuate the wounded and the sick to safer areas, where they can be treated," said Ms Mégevand-Roggo. "We also want to evacuate civilians who have been unable to flee the conflict area, and bring in much-needed aid and medical supplies to the local Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch."
In accordance with international humanitarian law, the wounded and the sick must receive, to the fullest extent practicable and with the least delay, the medical care and attention they require, and all possible measures must be taken to facilitate their evacuation. The parties must also take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population, including allowing civilians to move to safer areas.
Syria: As we await more news about the ICRC's operation in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims three people died in the city today as its death toll for today increased to 30 across the country.
One rebel fighter died in clashes in the Baba Amr district, south-west of the centre, it said. Another died from wounds sustained several days ago in the Jouret Shiyah area, north of the centre.
One of the stated aims of the ICRC mission is to rescue those wounded in the conflict in Homs.
Now Lebanon quoted Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, ICRC's head of operations for the Near and Middle East, as saying: "Our first priority, together with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, is to evacuate the wounded and the sick to safer areas, where they can be treated."
Syria: The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is preparing to evacuate wounded people and trapped civilians from Homs after both sides agreed to its request for a temporary pause in fighting, according to Reuters.
"We have teams from the ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent in Homs city. We want to go in as soon as possible. We are finalising technical issues," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters.
Egypt: Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb claims his client's medical condition has improved since last night. Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy tweeted:
El Deeb: " Mubarak is off life-support respirator and status improved since last night. Hospital will release an official medical report "
— Mohamed Fadel Fahmy (@Repent11) June 20, 2012
![Mubarak supporters gather outside military hospital where he is being treated](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/6/20/1340199359150/Mubarak-supporters-gather-008.jpg)
Meanwhile, pictures have emerged of Mubarak's supporters outside the Maadi military hospital where he is being treated.
![King Abdullah II](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/15/1337091449766/King-Abdullah-II-002.jpg)
Syria/Jordan: Jordan's King Abdullah has cautioned against military intervention in Syria warning that it would increase regional insecurity.
In an interview with the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat he said: "Military intervention would complicate the situation and increase the risk of insecurity in the region."
He said he was committed to Kofi Annan's peace initiative, and expressed alarm that the initiative appeared to be faltering.
"There is no alternative to a political solution," the king said.
Mubarak is "conscious and stable" and not in a coma.
Egypt: A hospital source has told the Times thatThe unnamed source said:
I think this was just something to get him out of prison and into a better place. He's conscious and stable. He is not mechanically ventilated.
not in a deep coma, Ahram Online reports, citing "an official medical source".
Egypt: Ex-president Mubarak isThe next 72 hours will be critical but he could survive, said the source. However, he may not regain all his intellectual and physical capacities and may have impaired concentration and vision due to a stroke.
Earlier today, it was reported that Mubarak has been taken off a life support machine.
troop movements near the capital.
Egypt: Ahram Online reports visibleMilitary vehicles have been noticed on the Cairo-Alexandria Agricultural Road near where the Circular Road enters the capital.
Tanks and armoured vehicles were spotted on the highway around 5km from Qaliub moving towards Cairo.
Soldiers refused to tell onlookers what was happening and told them not to get too close to the vehicles
The military is congregating at the location where it was used to prevent cars entering the capital during the early days of the 2011 uprising.
![Ali Hasan](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/6/19/1340110389653/Ali-Hasan-002.jpg)
Bahrain: A court has adjourned the case of an 11-year-old boy accused of taking part in anti-government protests and says it will deliver a verdict July 5, AP reports.
The boy, Ali Hasan (left), appeared in court today alongside his father. He spent a month behind bars and took his final school exams there.
He faces charges of joining an illegal gathering and other claims related to the unrest in the kingdom. Defence lawyer Shahzalan Khamis has asked the court to drop the charges.
![Live blog: recap](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/04/09/recap1.gif)
Here's a roundup of the latest developments:
Egypt
• The ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is said to be in a coma after his heart stopped on Tuesday, deepening uncertainty in the country amid ongoing disputes over who has been elected as his successor. Security officials said he had been taken off a life support machine and his heart and other vital organs are functioning.
• The presidential election result is thought to hang on the outcome of appeals about voting irregularities. Both the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi and Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq are claiming victory. But only the Muslim Brotherhood has offered proof of victory in the form of tallied reports from judges at polling stations. A declaration of the result, expected tomorrow, could be delayed.
• The Shafiq campaign plans to launch a political party, whoever wins the election. It also continues to accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of a plot against it.
• Tens of thousands of mainly Muslim Brotherhood supporters filled Tahrir Square in Cairo on Tuesday night to protest at the 11th-hour constitutional declaration giving the military sweeping powers. Islamist MPs left Tahrir square to march to parliament about 200 metres up the road, but were prohibited from entering the building, having to content themselves with chanting at the mouth of the road. Since the court decision security forces have locked down the road that houses parliament.
Syria
• At least 20 Syrian soldiers were killed in the latest clashes with rebel fighters in the north-west province of Latakia, according to AFP citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "The majority died in direct fighting with the rebels, while other soldiers were killed in a rebel attack on two buildings," the head of Observatory head Rami Abdel-Rahman told AFP.
• Senior officers in Syria are ready to oust President Assad in order to preserve the Alawite sect, according to Albawaba news website. The report is impossible to confirm but hints is the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.
• The head of the UN observer mission in Syria has told the security council that observers were repeatedly targeted by hostile crowds and gunfire before his decision to suspend operations, the BBC reports. Diplomats say Major General Robert Mood said his 300 unarmed monitors had had at least 10 direct fire incidents, and nine vehicles were struck in the last week.
• No country has the right to tell Syria who their leader should be, Russia's president Vladimir Putin said at the G20 summit underlining his opposition to US attempts to secure a deal to persuade Bashar al-Assad to stand down. RIA Novosti quoted him saying: "No one is entitled to decide for other nations who will be brought to power and who will be removed. A change of power, if it occurs – and it could only occur by constitutional means - should result in peace and stop the bloodshed."
• Syrian activists have announced a new coalition group inside further eroding the influence of the troubled exiled opposition, the Syrian National Council, the Telegraph reports. The Joint Action Committee is designed to "unify the political work and the field work in Syria across all the revolutionary levels to ensure a smooth future transition," according to its founder Hussein Sayed.
Kuwait
• The constitutional court has ruled that parliamentary elections held last February were invalid and that the previous parliament should be reinstated. Earlier this week, the emir suspended parliament for a month following the resignations of two cabinet ministers under pressure from opposition MPs.
![Ahmed Shafiq, Mohammed Morsi](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/5/28/1338226692209/Ahmed-Shafiq-Mohammed-Mor-003.jpg)
The presidential election result is still too close to call according to the Egypt Monocle, even though the Muslim Brotherhood is claiming a 4% victory for its man Mohamed Morsi (pictured right).
Egypt:The key source of uncertainty is the outcome of appeals filed by the campaign of former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq (pictured left), it says.
Their preliminary results show that Morsi won a total 13,238,298 votes while Shafik garnered 12,351,184 — a difference of 887,114.
However, Shafiq's campaign has repeatedly claimed that he is in fact the winner, but by a smaller margin. They say the Morsi campaign, trigger-happy with its early celebrations, should wait until the Presidential Election Committee announces the final results on Thursday. Still, they beamed with confidence at a Tuesday conference, saying they're sure Shafiq is the next president.
Also on Tuesday, Morsi's campaign said that 140 appeals were filed, 100 of which were accepted, and that final results will be out Thursday. But instead of waiting, they've repeatedly claimed the presidency — obviously under the impression that the appeals would come out in their favor and increase their margin of victory.
Now investigations looking into alleged ballot rigging may mean that around 1 million votes are discounted, which means it's anyone's game.
Farouk Sultan, the head of the election commission has suggested that a declaration of a result could come later than tomorrow, while appeals are investigated, the Egypt Independent reports.
Cairo-based journalist Sarah Carr notes how much quicker appeals were dismissed in the first round of the election.
1st round RT @hany2m: @Sarahcarr Appeals were submitted on May 27, all rejected on May 28, at 1:00 p.m!
— المشير أبو كار (@Sarahcarr) June 20, 2012
![Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/11/28/1322468118103/Sheikh-Sabah-al-Ahmad-al--002.jpg)
parliamentary elections held last February were invalid and that the previous parliament should be reinstated, the government news agency reports.
Kuwait: The constitutional court has ruled thatEarlier this week, the emir (left) suspended parliament for a month following the resignations of two cabinet ministers under pressure from opposition MPs. The Associated Press explains:
Kuwait has the Gulf's most politically independent parliament. It often demands to question top officials and has the ability to pass no-confidence votes to oust cabinet officials. Tensions have flared since February elections that gave Islamists and their political backers control of the chamber.
The opposition insists they now deserve more than half the seats in the 15-member cabinet. The bloc rejected an offer of four seats after the election.
Egypt: Mubarak's recovery continues apace, AP reports.
Security officials say Hosni Mubarak is in a coma but off of life support and his heart and other vital organs are functioning.
Overnight, state media reported that the 84-year old former president, who was ousted in last year's uprising, suffered a stroke and was put on life support. He was later transferred to a military hospital from the Cairo prison hospital where he recently began serving a life sentence.
The security officials said Wednesday that a team of 15 doctors was supervising the condition of Mubarak, who needed help with his breathing.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
ready to oust President Assad in order to preserve the Alawite sect, according to a report on Albawaba news website.
Syria: Senior officers in Syria areThe officers now believe "that the fate of the Alawite sect is more important than the fate of Assad himself," it says. "They see the Syrian sect as part of the Syrian people, and thus Bashar al-Assad and his family can go to exile in another country."
The report is impossible to confirm and might not be worth much attention – except that Albawaba gives some very broad hints that its source is none other than the Iraqi prime minister.
The report talks of "high-level sources in the Iraqi Dawa party, led by prime minister Nuri al-Maliki", and adds that "sources close to the Iraqi PM al-Maliki said the option of an Alawite rebellion could be the best way out of the Syrian crisis and will prevent a Syrian civil war".
Mubarakdeadornot.com has the latest health reports, rumours and reflections on the former dictators record in office.
Egypt: A new website calledThe Arabist tweets the scene, in black and white, outside the military hospital where Mubarak is being treated.
More from Maadi military hospital. twitter.com/arabist/status…
— arabist (@arabist) June 20, 2012
Some Mubarak supporters are giving journalists a "hard time" outside the hospital, according to al-Jazeera's Rawya Rageh.
#Mubarak supporters continue flocking to #Maadi hospital (few), some give media camped there hard time #Egypt
— Rawya Rageh (@RawyaRageh) June 20, 2012
And there are no more updates on Mubarak's health.
Maadi hospital remains tight-lipped abt #Mubarak's condition #Egypt
— Rawya Rageh (@RawyaRageh) June 20, 2012
Egypt: Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq is to launch a political party whoever wins the presidential election, according to the Egypt Independent.
It quotes a source as saying:
We know that we will face strong resistance from some active groups in the political arena, but we are ready to play in the political field with professionalism, and we will not give in to any plot against the new party. We are sure that there are millions of Egyptian citizens who [want] to join us.
Meanwhile, Shafiq's spokesman, Ahmad Sarhan has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of scaremongering ahead of the election result, by claiming its message amounts to "Morsi or Chaos", in his one of his latest tweets.
"Mubarak seems to have come back to life," amid widespread suspicions that reports of his failing health were manipulated to get him moved to plusher surroundings, Abdel-Rahman Hussein reports from Cairo.
Egypt:He said the conflicting reports about Mubarak's health undermine public trust in the official version of events, including potentially the forthcoming presidential election results.
At times when you need confirmation either way there is no official trusted source of the requisite information. That's what happened with the Mubarak 'death', and that's pretty much what happens with every incident that occurs in Egypt. The decision of the presidential election commission is binding ... But there will always be doubts cast on the results.
The results of the election are due to be declared on Thursday, but appeals could delay the announcement. Abdo now predicts a victory by the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi.
There are still appeals to be considered by the commission, but as it stands now Morsi looks likely to be the winner, simply because the Morsi campaign has offered proof that their candidate is the one who won. They have the tallied reports signed by the judges from all the polling stations. The Shafiq campaign was silent for 24 hours, then came out with a somewhat hysterical press conference in which they claimed that their candidate was half a million votes ahead. They offered no justification or basis for this. I think they were just talking in the wind.
It looks like Morsi's campaign got it right, barring unforeseen circumstances. [If Shafiq is declared winner] the Muslim Brotherhood will cry foul and for good reason. The only way I can see Shafiq winning is if the election commission accepts the appeals of his campaign - meaning they would have to strike out hundreds of thousands of votes, and that would be deemed a very politicised decisions and it will cause a big ruckus.
I think they [the military authorities] will declare Morsi the winner because they can't afford the fallout from declaring Shafiq the winner.
They hold all the cards so I don't think a Morsi win will cause too much upset. Morsi will be a president with his hands tied. The military has also announced the formation of a national defence council that [will include] the president but also 16 members, 11 of which are from the military. Decision will be made by a simple majority so they will have the final say.
They [the military] have ensured that irrespective of the winner they remain in charge.
The revolutionaries know that the current fight is not their fight, it is a face off between the Muslim Brotherhood and Scaf. So they are waiting to see how it's going to turn out. There is very popular refrain which is 'down with the next president' whoever it is.
he will no longer be writing for al-Akhbar, the Lebanese newspaper and website, because of its pro-Assad coverage of Syria.
Syria: American journalist Max Blumenthal has announced thatExplaining his decision in a blog post, Blumenthal says he started writing for al-Akhbar because at the time he considered it "one of the most courageous publications in the Arab world". But now, he says, "the paper's opinion pages have become a playpen for dictator enablers". He writes:
I recently learned of a major exodus of key staffers at al-Akhbar caused at least in part by disagreements with the newspaper leadership's pro-Assad tendency.
The revelation helps explain why al-Akhbar English now prominently features the malevolent propaganda of Amal Saad Ghorayeb and the dillentantish quasi-analysis of Sharmine Narwani alongside editor-in-chief Ibrahim al-Amin's friendly advice for Bashar Assad, whom he attempts to depict as an earnest reformer overwhelmed by events ...
I was forced to conclude that unless I was prepared to spend endless stores of energy jousting with Assad apologists, I was merely providing them cover by keeping my name and reputation associated with al-Akhbar.
More importantly, I decided that if I kept quiet any longer, I would be betraying my principles and those of the people who have encouraged and inspired me over the years. There is simply no excuse for me to remain involved for another day with such a morally compromised outlet.
global survey from the state department places Syria among 16 countries that are "not making significant efforts" to meet minimum standards.
Syria: The US has added Syria to the list of countries that could face sanctions for failing to combat the trafficking of people. Its latest annualThe report says it is unclear how the current conflict has affected the human trafficking situation in Syria, but the country's downgrading seems to result from a lack of action to deal with it. The Assad regime is accused of failing to investigate and punish offences or offer protection to victims. The report says:
Prior to the political uprising and violent unrest, Syria was principally a destination country for women and children subjected to forced labor or sex trafficking. Thousands of women – the majority from Indonesia, the Philippines, Somalia, and Ethiopia – were recruited by employment agencies to work in Syria as domestic servants, but were subsequently subjected to conditions of forced labour by their employers ...
Traffickers prey on Syria's large Iraqi refugee population, with some Iraqi women and girls exploited by their families or by criminal gangs; victims were sent to work in nightclubs, placed into temporary "marriages" to men for the sole purpose of prostitution, or sold to pimps who rent them out for longer periods of time.
Six other Arab countries are ranked at the same level as Syria: Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen.
Carlos Latuff captures the suspicion of how reports of Mubarak's health are being used by Egypt's ruling generals.
Egypt: The cartoonist![mubarak-health-reports](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20120625081905im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/6/20/1340179300854/Mubarakcoma.jpg)
Protesters at a Muslim Brotherhood rally last night dismissed the reports as an irrelevance, Reuters reports.
(all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live.
Conflicting reports about Hosni Mubarak's health are adding renewed volatility to Egypt's political crisis ahead of the official results of a divisive presidential election, and amid mounting anger at a power grab by the military council.
Egypt
• The ousted Egyptian president has been transferred to from Torah prison hospital to a military hospital and reported to be critically ill. The state news agency Mena had initially reported that Mubarak was clinically dead soon after he was taken to the military hospital. This was later denied, and Mubarak was reported to be on a life support machine.
Egyptians have been sceptical of earlier reports that his health was worsening since he was put in prison on 2 June, believing the reports were just a pretext to move him to another facility.
Mubarak's health crisis added a new element of uncertainty just as a potentially explosive fight opened over who will succeed him, following elections at the weekend, and moves by the interim military government to extend its powers.
It adds further layers to what is threatening to become a new chapter of unrest and political power struggles in Egypt, 16 months after Mubarak was removed by a popular uprising demanding democracy. Egyptians were uncertain about Mubarak's fate, about who will succeed him and about whether his successor will have any power.
The campaign of Mubarak's former prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, said that Shafiq has won Egypt's presidential election, countering the Muslim Brotherhood's claim of victory for its candidate, Mohammed Morsi.
The election commission is to announce the official final results on Thursday and no matter who it names as victor, his rival is likely to reject the result as a fraud.
• Premature accounts of Mubarak's death were widely reported on Tuesday night. The BBC's Newsnight programme announced his death (1 min 37 secs into the programme) in its opening roundup.
• Tens of thousands of mainly Muslim Brotherhood supporters have filled Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest at the 11th-hour constitutional declaration giving the military sweeping powers. Islamist MPs left Tahrir square to march to parliament about 200 metres up the road, but were prohibited from entering the building, having to content themselves with chanting at the mouth of the road. Since the court decision security forces have locked down the road that houses parliament.
• Are the generals going to let Morsi win? asks Michael Collins Dunn of the Middle East Institute.
I don't know, but does it matter? They'd be wise not to pull the (much devalued) prize away at this point,which could produce an open revolt by the Brotherhood; better to have an elected, but powerless, figurehead. They're going to need somebody to blame when people finally notice the economy is a disaster. And a co-opted Brotherhood could be helpful in many ways, as long as Morsi understands who is co-opting whom.
• There is trouble ahead whatever happens, warns the Arabist.
You have a possible fight on the result of the presidential election, an almost certain fight on the fate of parliament and the constitutional declaration, and a longer-term fight on the drafting of the future constitution. If you're not worried already, start worrying now.
Syria
• The head of the UN observer mission in Syria has told the security council that observers were repeatedly targeted by hostile crowds and gunfire before his decision to suspend operations, the BBC reports. Diplomats say Major General Robert Mood said his 300 unarmed monitors had had at least 10 direct fire incidents, and nine vehicles were struck in the last week.
Both Assad's forces and the rebels must stop the fighting, "if the mission is going to be meaningful," Mood said.
• A ship carrying refurbished attack helicopters for the Assad regime, has been turned back after being denied marine cover by UK underwriters. William Hague, the foreign secretary, confirmed that the ship, thought to have sailed from Kaliningrad, in the Baltic, had now turned back to Murmansk in northern Russia.
• No country has the right to tell Syria who their leader should be, Russia's president Vladimir Putin said at the G20 summit underlining his opposition to US attempts to secure a deal to persuade Bashar al-Assad to stand down. RIA Novosti quoted him saying: "No one is entitled to decide for other nations who will be brought to power and who will be removed. A change of power, if it occurs – and it could only occur by constitutional means - should result in peace and stop the bloodshed."
The Joint Action Committee is designed to "unify the political work and the field work in Syria across all the revolutionary levels to ensure a smooth future transition," according to its founder Hussein Sayed.
Its executive is formed of three representatives from each of the four main opposition groups in Syria. These include the Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC), the largest grassroots coalition that, according to a study by O'Bagy, controls 70% of the regional Revolutionary Councils across the country as well as the majority of the Local Coordination Committee.
Comments
20 June 2012 8:59AM
Terror in Andaan Syria.
During a military raid several dozen residents were detained, beaten, then gathered in the street for open torture by Assad militia. They were laid out on the ground while bound, crying in pain as their assailants took turns trampling them. While others were clubbed in their skulls. The young and old alike spared as all males are targeted for processing by the surgeon's assistants. The abusers cursing the abused, calling them dogs while shouting pro-Assad slogans.
Over a hundred gunmen using unarmed residents as objects to abuse to build group moral. Assad's death squads showing no mercy to anyone in areas deemed infected.
20 June 2012 9:00AM
Has Brown Moses overslept?
20 June 2012 9:02AM
Four Parliament Committees on Public Freedoms and Human Rights, Youths, Women's Rights and Press Approved.
They stressed the importance of the freedoms and human rights' committee in the current stage since freedom is a holy right guaranteed by the constitution, in addition to enhancing the values of justice and trust between the citizens and the state so that Syria would remain an example of unity, amity and fraternity.
A number of the members also called for re-imposing the state of emergency for a temporary and renewable period due to the prevailing security situation with the aim of protecting the citizens against the violations and criminal acts of the terrorist groups.
20 June 2012 9:03AM
Mubarak was made to be the 'fall-guy' because he was knocking on Heaven's door. Will his passing save the old regime? Possibly not, but the replacement organisation, Muslim Brotherhood, is not what the people of Eygypt originally desired when they challenged the State. Painful as it will doubtless prove to be, people of Egypt please start again and seek a truly democratic solution.
20 June 2012 9:20AM
Less than 3 weeks to go to the Libyan elections. Jalil has confirmed on TV that he and the NTC will go afterwards. There's still a certain amount of public scepticism about it, though, and as Egypt is currently demonstrating, elections don't necessarily mean the end of chaos or the end of the old regime.There seems to be a lull in fighting in Kufra and the Nafusa Mountains. But there have been lulls before and there's no particular sign any of the core issues have been addressed, so only time will tell whether it's a lull or something more permanent.
20 June 2012 9:23AM
Yet more daily defections, this time 19/06/2012 in Rastan Syria:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rve3d4yRD80
A dozen men defect from the law and rights defiling Assad army to join the FSA. Syrians stand up for other citizens instead of perpetuating rule by terror.
20 June 2012 9:27AM
A Pinochet defense.
The US State Department/NSA/CIA will never willingly allow an "islamist"-led country to control the northern end of the Suez (they are fighting an undeclared war in the country at the southern end - Yemen- right now) and Israel will never willingly allow an "islamist"-led country to occupy its southern borders.
The much trumpeted US defense of democracy has always been conditional on protecting its strategic interests first., second and last. Democracy or Stability - choose one.
20 June 2012 9:28AM
Obama - China, Russia not signed on for Assad's removal
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/20/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE84S0P320120620
So here we have Cameron trying to say Russia has shifted when it hasn’t, nice try Dave.
Going back to UN report
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18505693
This from article
So what he’s saying is the FSA are in-effect holding people in these areas , and not allowing them to leave.? knowing Syrian forces use heavy weapons against rebels and there will be casualties.
20 June 2012 9:29AM
Amnesty International's global head of law Widney Brown has made the point I made yesterday. The ICC should not apologise to the Zintan militia for the ICC lawyer doing her job, just to save the Zintanis' face and persuade them to release their prisoner, taken in contravention of international law. It's time somebody stood up to the Libyan militias and insist that they abide by the rule of law. Zintan could start by answering some questions about the ethnic cleansing of the Mashasha during the war.
20 June 2012 9:41AM
@PeterBrit
Don't hold you breath there, I mean the Misrata militias got away with ethic-clensing of Tawaghu without anyone being held responsible.
20 June 2012 9:41AM
The rise of the Jpint Action Committee inside Syria is likely to make for a more effective revolution. The Syrian National Council should probably just disband since it seems to be full of timewasters just jockeying for post-war political power. Part of the problem with the Libyan Revolution was premature international recognition of the National Transitional Council which during the war and for some time after consisted mainly of civilians from Benghazi. It didn't represent most of the Libyan regions and it certainly didn't represent most of the revolutionaries doing the fighting. Consequently Libya emerged after the war with a detached, secretuve and unrepresentative political leadership and as people rapidly lost respect for it, they instead looked to their regional militia commanders and local leaders.
20 June 2012 9:43AM
I spent so long making bad taste comments about Mubarak on Twitter last night I've run out of articles and videos to post!
20 June 2012 9:45AM
Another defection today by a Captain. Joining the FSA in response to Assad and his cronies misuse of the military to suppress dissent and disrespect rights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02EN_MWgHeY
20 June 2012 9:49AM
@Atvar. Oh I agree. The West, during the war, didn't want to know about any crimes committed by the Libyan rebel militias and it doesn't want to know about them now. But just as it was wrong for Blair in pursuit of business to ignore Gaddafi's crimes, so now in pursuit of business it's wrong to ignore militia crimes. Apart from anything else it undermines the moral foundations of the new Libya. If you create a society where some of its top members are people connected with crimes, and have power and infuence because of the number of armed men they have, what message does that send to the rest of society?
20 June 2012 9:49AM
You conveniently overlooked the bold part of the statement. This is not the assessment of the UN, but of the Syrian government. Where is your doubt now? Do you take this statement at face value? Once again your double standard is revealed.
Not that any credibility was left after you cited an article by presstv as your evidence just yesterday.
20 June 2012 9:58AM
Max Blumenthal has written a peace criticising Al Akhbar after a number of key staffers left in response to their coverage of Syria, The right to resist is universal: A farewell to Al Akhbar and Assad’s apologists.
20 June 2012 10:10AM
What makes you think this Joint Action Committee is likely to make for a more effective revolution? Not to defend the SNC here, but the challenges for the Syrian opposition are gigantic, and so any opposition organisation, unified or not, is bound to attract criticism sooner than later because of the lack of progress. The Assad regime is not making any concessions, while internationally there is no movement because the Russians support Assad. Meanwhile, it is very challenging to maintain the necessary communications between those operating inside and outside Syria. But you need both, because outside you have more room to operate and maneuver, while the action is inside.
Meanwhile, your criticism of the NTC is pretty backwards. It was simply not possible to have body that represents all regions equally at the time of formation. At the same time, there was simply no time to wait for some perfectly representative body to emerge before dealing with the Libyan opposition, not for opposition themselves, and not for the international community. They organised this from scratch and improvised along the way.
And for all your criticisms, and for all their faults, the NTC have held the country together through the uprising and in the period after, and is pretty much on track to hand over power to an elected body. The security situation is still volatile, but over all, there is improvement, also in how the NTC deals with these conflicts. The chance that Libya will explode in violence is still well below 50%, I would say.
While I certainly would say that all is well, there is a tendency to deliver harsh judgements from hindsight and armchairs about what are inherently very difficult and dynamic situations. We should certainly strive for the best, but we should sometimes pause and recognise the value of good enough.
20 June 2012 10:15AM
Why are these Iraqis in Syria? Was there a civil war in Iraq after the invasion that meant a million Iraqis had to flee to Syria? Some background might be helpful as to the reason why Iraqis had to seek refuge in Syria.
20 June 2012 10:22AM
From your previous commentary I can see you REALLY care about facts.
20 June 2012 10:26AM
Update from Aleppo
Internet has just come back on having been off all morning in some areas. There was a 2 day strike on Saturday and Sunday which was widely adhered to. Nightly protests continue in certain areas followed by huge demonstrations the following day when someone has been killed.
Yesterday was the funeral of the mother of a female Christian activist shot at a checkpoint in town! Protesters waved red roses in the air and didn't chant. So many Muslims attended the funeral service that the priest asked for a Muslim prayer to be said!
After a quiet day yesterday, shelling of the nearby towns and villages resumed last night. They are being fired from the edge of a residential area in the north of the city. There is a constant sound od explosion and then the thud some seconds later as they reach their target 5 kilometres away.
The sound of ambulance sirens and intermittent gunfire has become the "norm" throughout the city.
20 June 2012 10:28AM
It wasn't a mistake. the US and the Saudis and Qatar needed to nip the revolution in the bud.
20 June 2012 10:34AM
@Cerridwen
Why not just because you say so and are to blind to look at the bigger picture other than your own narrative says it all really about you, but i'm not surprised.
20 June 2012 10:37AM
I should have added western and Suadi backed jihadists fighters. Thanks.
shillsgonnashill, why would the Saudis and Qatar support an opposition who wanted a secular democratic Syrian government?
20 June 2012 10:39AM
Another good piece from the Washington Post's reported in Syria, Among Syrian rebels, a shared sense of commitment.
20 June 2012 10:40AM
.
I have no qualms using other news media, oh wait the article I posted said something different other than what was said by MSM that everyone is supposed to to take as truth, so it must wrong..you should try it might open yours eyes more. :)
20 June 2012 10:40AM
You must be joking!
20 June 2012 10:41AM
What to do in a barren wasteland that was once your neighborhood when it is infested with thugs trying to kill you?
Play with the snipers, drawing their fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGSPLeei-Ak
20 June 2012 10:42AM
@brothermacdub
We are talking about Cerridwen, you should know now he only likes his own comments and everyone else's view is wrong.
20 June 2012 10:52AM
Video of Syrian military extracting citizens without preconditions from Homs.
20 June 2012 10:55AM
More video of Syrian military extracting citizens without preconditions from Homs.
20 June 2012 10:57AM
The Egyptians should have hanged this corrupt to the hilt dictator with his crimes against the state, the Egyptian people and humanity. The world press should stop writing about him and other such menace.
20 June 2012 11:03AM
@Cerridwen. lol, well you seem a whole lot more keen on the NTC than most of the pro-revolution Libyans tweeting today. They lost respect for it a long time ago. But anyway, there's no point in you and me arguing about it. The election is on July 7th and I guess pretty soon after that we'll all know a lot more clearly whart kind of shape the NTC has left Libya in.
20 June 2012 11:05AM
The UN, more importantly, the US, want an arms embargo on the Assad regime but, they don't seem to mind allowing arms shipments from the newly established American base of operations in North Africa, Libya, being used as a port to supply such arms;
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/un-confirms-arms-smuggling-between-lebanon-syria
On the same topic;
http://rt.com/politics/g20-cabos-syria-russia-193/
20 June 2012 11:16AM
Interesting development to watch if its true of course.
20 June 2012 11:22AM
I like Max Blumenthal, he is a superb journalist who sticks up to the right wing lunatic brigades in Israel and the US.
This article impressed me the most>>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/the-great-islamophobic-cr_b_799277.html
I am confused as to why such a bright spark like Max would get his nickers in a twist over the support for Assad, especially considering who the Assad opposition are?
20 June 2012 11:25AM
....being used as a port to supply such arms to the rebels
20 June 2012 11:30AM
Hundreds of Syrians opposed to tyrannical rule call for Assad's downfall at a funeral for those fallen by his Hezbollah assisted killers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkrg02tr8IM
20 June 2012 11:34AM
Same funeral crowd, now on the move having picked up hundreds more along the way to the graveyard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT1d-UtS8_M
Calls for reform replaced with calls for downfall. Justice delayed cannot be ignored any longer as rightful anger swells opposition numbers.
20 June 2012 11:51AM
Read this last night, interesting, but impossible to know its accuracy..
This article is in a similar vein and suggests Assad regime under pressure, despite attempts to flatten Homs... http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=274512&R=R1 I tent to take Jonathan Spyer articles with a pinch of salt though..
20 June 2012 11:56AM
Assad being the bastard leader he is, should remove himself. He lucky enough to be alive this long to see his fellow Arab leaders leagues come and go. If he waits too long he might not have the luxury like Ben Ali, Saleh or Mubarak, to live long enough to see his littlest one all grown up.
On the other hand he can go
Gaddafi, Saddam, Ceausescu, Benito Mussolini style.
How does he want it?
20 June 2012 12:14PM
No country has the right to tell Syria who their leader should be, Russia's president Vladimir Putin said at the G20 summit underlining his opposition to US attempts to secure a deal to persuade Bashar al-Assad to stand down. RIA Novosti quoted him saying: "No one is entitled to decide for other nations who will be brought to power and who will be removed. A change of power, if it occurs – and it could only occur by constitutional means - should result in peace and stop the bloodshed."
I am sure all brutal dictators, including Ceausescu, Idi Amin, Bokassa, Pol Pot, Gaddafi, Kim Ir Sen etc would agree with him. It means in practice that democratisation is possible only if the dictator agrees. And if not?
If the Soviet constitution had been respected, the Soviet Union would still exist today....
20 June 2012 12:19PM
While Egypt's former leader is no longer at the helm of the country he molded, his legacy will live on for much longer. As shown here, under his reign, the use of torture, rape, wrongful imprisonment and the abuse of the electoral process was rampant, issues that still haunt Egyptians today:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.ca/2011/11/freedom-in-egypt-what-are-prospects-for.html
20 June 2012 12:25PM
What's the fuss all about? Mubarak has been brain-dead for the past 80 years!
20 June 2012 12:37PM
Interesting how these ex dictators get ill when they are deposed. Milosevic was another one. They would make an interesting case study on the link between mental stress and physical illness.
20 June 2012 12:40PM
That's not the point. Citizens of every country should have a right to choose their leaders freely. In Syria they don't.
20 June 2012 12:57PM
phew! he wrote! Was thinking he had been renditioned to Egypt by the CIA for waterboarding!
20 June 2012 12:58PM
I have absolutely no remorse for this man after what he has done to thousands of people over the years. Lucifer is waiting for you Mr Mubarak!
20 June 2012 1:00PM
So we can take it that you support the opposition then?
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaida affiliates operating in Syria, says William Hague
I support the rights of the dictator Assad to maintain order in his state, you support the rights of Islamic radicals to remove said dictator, where does that leave us, who is right, you or I?
Lastly, are you at heart a Jihadist using an alias to suggest you are American?
20 June 2012 1:21PM
Yes, it is always nice to hear something you want to hear. Particularly from a reliable source.
20 June 2012 1:21PM
I don’t give a flying fuck about Mubarack – CIA stooge from day one. Julian Assange is a hero in our time. Assanges real crime is revealing the truth behind the official bullshit that neither the establishment nor its media lackeys can tolerate. The mendacious and undemocratic actions of state revealed is the real story not these convenient trumped up bimbo light charges.... A pox on all suits, uniform and conformist shits.