Syria, Libya and Middle East unrest – live updates

• Government troops advance through Hama • 24 killed across Syria yesterday • Read a summary of today’s key points • Read more: Deaths continue as UN considers condemnation 4.21pm: Libya: Al-Jazeera TV is reporting that a hospital outside Misrata is struggling to deal with the number of casualties from the fighting in nearby Zlitan, where pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a major counterattack today. On Al-Jazeera’s blog , correspondent Hoda Abdel Hamid reports: [The hospital] is coping; [it's] very difficult, because there was a really [large] amount of wounded that have been coming here throughout the day. It is a little bit calmer now … I spoke to some of the fighters who have just arrived from the front line. Apparently, early this morning, when the fighters were off guard really, they admit to that, the Gaddafi forces, with tanks according to what they say, flanked them in a sort of a way to isolate them. And that’s when they came under attack. They were taken by surprise, it was an all-out offensive according to several of the fighters I spoke to, along the entire line they had on the outskirts of Zlitan. 4.20pm: Hillary Clinton (left), the American secretary of state, is meeting US-based Syrian democracy activists today to discuss, in the words of the state department, “the urgent situation” in the country. Members of congress are calling for the Obama administration to impose new sanctions of Bashar al-Assad’s government. 4.17pm: A Bahraini man died this week from tear gas inhaled during security operations in a Shia village, activists said today. The government said police officers were under investigation for “exceeding their authority”. Small-scale protests and clashes with security forces continue almost daily in Bahrain after the Sunni-dominated government crushed a pro-democracy movement earlier this year. 4.04pm: Reader Aliboy writes to say to say that the video at 12.59pm has been played on Syrian state TV, where it was billed as showing rebels throwing the bodies of government soldiers into the river. Mona Mahmood and I have watched the video again and gone through the dialogue line by line. There is nothing to prove conclusively whether those throwing the bodies in the river are members of the security forces or protesters. However, at one point near the end, one of the men asks in reference to one of the bodies: “Is this a military man?” Some Syrian soldiers are known to have defected to the protesters, so this line seems to suggest the speaker is a member of the security forces and the body that of an anti-Assad activist. If it was the other way round, would a protester ask about the body of a soldier: “Is this a military man?” It seems unlikely. In addition, so far the consensus is that in Syria the protests have been largely peaceful – there are no recorded incidents of brutal behaviour such as this being carried out by protesters. In contrast, state forces have so far killed an estimated 1,700 civilians. Enduring America has a clip of the video being used on Syrian state TV . The audio seems to cut out from time to time, but is essentially the same. The presenter introduces the clip at around eight minutes in by saying: Armed groups have declared their intention to kill and mutilate the bodies of the martyrs before throwing their revered bodies in the Al-A’assi river. The clip then begins, the caption reading: “Armed groups throwing the body of army martyrs and peacekeeping forces in Al-A’assi river after killing them,” with the dateline Hama. After the clip, the presenter adds: These armed groups target civilians and peacekeeping forces and our heroic army, which is protecting our country and holding the flag of the country, which is like the shield of the country, against anyone who conspires against the country. It is impossible to properly verify footage such as this, but on balance it seems unlikely that the people throwing the bodies in the river are anti-Assad protesters. It seems much more likely that those throwing the bodies are government forces. But we cannot say for sure either way. 3.46pm: Breaking: Russia’s foreign ministry said today that it would not oppose a United Nations resolution to condemn violence in Syria as long as it did not include sanctions and other such “pressures”. The security council is to announce today what action – if any – to take against Syria after the government’s escalation of violence against protesters. Russia has a veto in the UN security council. The foreign minister’s Middle East and North Africa department chief, Sergei Vershinin, said Russia was not “categorically” against adopting a resolution on Syria: We are not formalists, we are not categorically against anything in particular. If there are some unbalanced items, sanctions, pressure, I think that kind of pressure is bad because we want less bloodshed and more democracy. Two months ago a draft resolution criticising Syria was dropped when it became clear Russia and China would veto it. Moscow, a close ally of Damascus in Soviet times, currently has $4bn (£2.46bn) worth of arms contracts with Syria, according to Russia’s Vedomosti newspaper. 3.33pm: An Israeli official is distancing the government from a report that Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines with the West Bank. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials acknowledged today they remain far from a breakthrough in efforts to revive peace talks, despite a frantic US push. An Israeli TV station said Monday that Netanyahu had accepted Barack Obama’s proposal to commit to a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank. But the official told the Associated Press that Netanyahu was willing to “show some flexibility” on the border issue, but would not elaborate. He also said Netanyahu expected Palestinian flexibility on other issues. 2.51pm: Here, a bit later than usual, is a lunchtime summary . Syria • The Syrian army has continued to attack the central city of Hama, taking up positions near Kazo Square and in the east of the city. There have been scattered protests in the city today but the shelling has kept most people inside. Residents are trying to leave Hama but the continued danger makes that difficult. A video has emerged purporting to show nighttime protests 100m from the presidential residence in Damascus ( see 9.58am ). Between 19 and 25 people died in yesterday’s assault by security forces, according to activists ( see 11.07am ). • Italy has recalled its ambassador to Syria in protest against the killings and encouraged other EU countries to do likewise, so far without success. The EU named five people, including Syrian defence minister Ali Habib and head of internal security Tawfiq Younes, it was adding to a sanctions list ( see 10.13am ). The UN security council will announce later today what action it intends to take – if any – in condemnation of Syria. Libya • Pro-Gaddafi forces have counterattacked in Zlitan, 100 miles (160km) east of Tripoli, after rebels entered the town yesterday. The rebels are waiting for permission from Zlitan’s Fowater tribe before they can take control of the town ( see 2.16pm ). • Footage has emerged of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s son, speaking yesterday to say that regardless of whether Nato stops bombing, the government will continue to fight the rebels “until all of Libya is liberated” or “we are all killed”, putting a dampener on hopes for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict ( see 12.26pm ). • Family members of Abdul Fatah Younis, the Libyan rebel commander assassinated last week, have demanded an open investigation and speedy trials for this killers, amid continued confusion over who killed him and why ( see 10.38am ). Younis’s son and nephew blamed “traitors” among the rebels. 2.19pm: There have been scattered protests in Hama, Syria , today, according to the Associated Press, but the shelling has kept most people inside. 2.46pm: Here, a bit later than usual, is a lunchtime summary . Syria • The Syrian army has continued to attack the central city of Hama, taking up positions near Kazo Square and in the east of the city. There have been scattered protests in the city today but the shelling has kept most people inside. Residents are trying to leave Hama but the continued danger makes that difficult. A video has emerged purporting to show nighttime protests 100m from the presidential residence in Damascus ( see 9.58am ). Between 19 and 25 people died in yesterday’s assault by security forces, according to activists ( see 11.07am ). • Italy has recalled its ambassador to Syria in protest against the killings and encouraged other EU countries to do likewise, so far without success. The EU named five people, including Syrian defence minister Ali Habib and head of internal security Tawfiq Younes, it was adding to a sanctions list ( see 10.13am ). The UN security council will announce later today what action it intends to take – if any – in condemnation of Syria. Libya • Pro-Gaddafi forces have counterattacked in Zlitan, 100 miles (160km) east of Tripoli, after rebels entered the town yesterday. The rebels are waiting for permission from Zlitan’s Fowater tribe before they can take control of the town ( see 2.16pm ). • Footage has emerged of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s son, speaking yesterday to say that regardless of whether Nato stops bombing, the government will continue to fight the rebels “until all of Libya is liberated” or “we are all killed”, putting a dampener on hopes for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict ( see 12.26pm ). • Family members of Abdul Fatah Younis, the Libyan rebel commander assassinated last week, have demanded an open investigation and speedy trials for this killers, amid continued confusion over who killed him and why ( see 10.38am ). Younis’s son and nephew blamed “traitors” among the rebels. 2.16pm: Chris Stephen in Misrata says the mystery over whether Libya ‘s pro-Gaddafi forces have abandoned Zlitan appears to have been solved – they attacked this morning, hitting the farms north of Zlitan and leaving five rebel fighters dead and 31 wounded, with casualties still coming in. The fighters are being hit hard by rockets but it is unclear who has the upper hand, Chris says. Zlitan’s Fowater tribe has not agreed to let the rebels take control of the town. 2.09pm: This video purports to show army vehicles travelling towards Hama today . It was uploaded today, but otherwise cannot be independently verified. 1.40pm: The foreign secretary, William Hague, has been tweeting (see above). This appears to be a simple reiteration of intent, not any change of policy or position. 1.08pm: Al-Jazeera’s English-language live blog of events in Syria points me to this brief YouTube video , which purports to show the body of a protester killed in the port city of Latakia, where two people reportedly died yesterday, being carried through the streets. 12.59pm: WARNING: Disturbing footage. This video , linked to by the website Enduring America , purports to show bloody dead bodies – some of whom seemed to have had their throats slit – being thrown into the Al-A’assi river by Shabiha (“ghosts” – pro-Assad militia). The dead people are described in the caption as “heroes of Hama”. The people around the Shabiha can be heard encouraging them, and insulting and cursing the dead people. The Shabiha shout “God is greatest” as they throw the bodies in the river. “Don’t film” is also heard. The video was uploaded on 31 July. The Arabic caption reads: “Is there any crime worse than killing someone and then throwing the body in the river? Where are human rights? Where is world opinion? Where is Amnesty International?” There is no way to properly verify the clip. Many thanks to my colleague Mona Mahmood for translation. 12.40pm: Comment is free is polling readers about whether it is time for a UN security council resolution on Syria . 12.26pm: My colleagues on the video desk have sent this clip of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, appearing on state TV yesterday ( see 11.35am ). Saif appears to applause and chanting from the small crowd gathered to listen to hear him, smiles broadly and waves, before resorting to his usual finger-wagging style as he speaks. As well as the comments I noted earlier, Saif said: “Fighting will not stop until every one of you can return safely to your farm, house, job and family. If that does not happen we will not stop fighting even if we are all killed.” 11.53am: At Comment is free, Fadwa al-Hatem, the pen-name of a Syrian citizen who currently lives in Britain, says she thinks “only the most deluded of [Bashar al-]Assad’s circle of close advisers would think that the Syrian uprising can ever be crushed”. She says there has been some talk about the formation of a “Free Syrian army”, but “in spite of fantastic stories about saboteurs and Salafist terrorists by the regime’s media” the demonstrators have so far remained overwhelmingly peaceful. She says that like Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, Assad has realised that once his people “broke through the fear barrier, his fall from power would be inevitable”, leading to a “ferocious campaign against the people who dared rise up”. 11.46am: Italy’s appeal for other European countries to follow its lead and recall their ambassadors to Syria has so far been rebuffed. The UK, Spain and Belgium said they had no such plans for now, and in Brussels officials said no EU-wide directive had been issued ( see 10.13am ). 11.35am: Nato has issued its latest update on its bombing of Libya , saying that it made the following air strikes yesterday: • Near Tripoli : one military facility, two surface-to-air missile systems, one military storage facility, one radar. • Near Bir Al Ghanam : two military facilities, two anti-aircraft systems. • Near Gharyan : one ammunition storage facility. • Near Waddan : one ammunition storage facility. • Near Zlitan : one command and control node, one military facility. This map shows where those locations are. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan leader’s son, has vowed to push on with the war against the country’s rebels whether or not Nato stops bombing, pouring cold water on hopes for a diplomatic end to the conflict. Libyan state TV last night showed Saif telling families displaced from the rebel capital Benghazi: No one should think that after all the sacrifices we have made, and the martyrdom of our sons, brothers and friends, we will stop fighting. Forget it. Regardless of whether Nato leaves or not, the fighting will continue until all of Libya is liberated. This video, uploaded yesterday, purports to show pro-Gaddafi troops abusing captives, one of whom, according to the caption, is an old man from Zlitan. This video, also uploaded yesterday, purports to show pro-Gaddafi soldiers smoking a drug of some kind. It is impossible to properly verify the videos. Thanks to reader BrownMoses for the links. 11.12am: Protesters say they have been taking the sim cards of those shot dead so that they can talk to each other and media without being tracked, Nour Ali (a pseudonym) reports. All phone numbers are registered to the person when they buy it and several of those who have been detained say they have been tracked by their phone number for talking to al-Jazeera or other media. “There’s ever more sim cards available right now, unfortunately,” says one activist in Damascus. 11.08am: My colleague Jason Rodrigues has written this piece looking at how the Guardian covered the 1982 massacre in Hama under Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad. 11.07am: Admiral Mike Mullen, the US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the top military officer in Washington, DC, has said the US wants to put pressure on the Syrian regime “politically and diplomatically”, but “there’s no indication whatsoever that the Americans, that we would get involved directly with respect to this”. Alistair Burt, a junior minister in the British Foreign Office, also made clear last night there is no prospect of military intervention like that seen in Libya. The Associated Press writes that activists are listing different death tolls from yesterday’s violence, from 19 to 25. Omar Hamawi, an activist based in Hama, described to AP how troops advanced about 700m from the western entrance of the city overnight, taking up positions near homes and buildings in Kazo Square. The force consisted of eight tanks and several armoured personnel carriers, he said. Hamawi said troops were also in position in the eastern side of the city, near Hama Central Prison. He said residents there saw smoke billowing from the prison overnight and heard sporadic gunfire from inside the premises, leading some to believe that the inmates were rioting. He added that it was impossible to know what was exactly going on in the prison or whether there were casualties inside the tightly controlled facility. He said that this morning parts of Hama were hit with heavy machine gun fire after sporadic shelling overnight. A shell hit a compound known as the Palace of Justice, home to several courts, in the city centre, causing a huge fire that burned much of the building. State TV has been showing men carrying rifles in the streets, supposedly in Hama, in order to bolster the government’s claim that Islamists and armed gangs have provoked the violence. Most foreign journalists are banned from Syria, making it hard to verify exactly what is happening there. 10.52am: My colleagues on the video desk send this clip of attacks on Hama yesterday . 10.40am: Nour Ali (a pseudonym) has been speaking to a resident in Homs. Sounding as weary as the man in Hama ( see 10.16am ), he said a member of his extended family had been shot last night after tarawih prayers, the extra prayers performed at night during Ramadan. The young protester, Adnan, 25, was shot in the head, through his right eye, and taken to the hospital in the Waar area of Homs, the resident, who saw his body, said. “He had work in Saudi Arabia waiting for him and his family told him to go. But he refused to leave, saying he wanted to stay and protest against the regime,” the resident said. The family saw at least one other dead body in the hospital when they visited last night. A funeral is due to take place today in the Bab Sbaa area. Homs has been a flashpoint for violence for several months. Tanks remain on the streets and residents in Baba Amr say automatic weapon fire is regularly heard. But the focus of violence in the last few days has been after tarawih prayers, said the resident. “On the eve of Ramadan, Sunday, there was a demonstration in Brazil Street [one of the main streets in the city] and it got bigger and bigger and seemed like it was safe, that the forces were ignoring it. But then they suddenly opened fire. People were scattering and they were shooting, not just at people but at cars in the street.” The resident said the same happened last night, with some worshippers reporting gunshots before they even came out of the mosque. “It was even worse last night. There were buses and buses of soldiers coming and being dropped off in every area,” said the resident. “They just open fire as soon as they leave the mosque. People praying in one mosque said even before they came out they could hear gunshots outside.” “It’s terrible, it’s terrible,” the resident said. “They are now going to shoot anything, that’s it; they’ll shoot anything that moves.” Above is a map showing the locations of Homs and Hama. 10.38am: Family members of Abdul Fatah Younis (left), the Libyan rebel commander assassinated last week, have demanded an open investigation and speedy trials for this killers. Confusion still hangs over the murder, which the rebel leadership says was the work of pro-Gaddafi forces; others say Younis was killed by a faction within the rebels. Younis’s son and nephew blamed “traitors” in Libya’s rebel-held east, according to the Associated Press. His son, Moatasim Abdul Fatah, told the news agency he believed “individuals among us” carried out the killing, “first to stop this revolution and secondly to incite violence in liberated cities”. 10.16am: Nour Ali (a pseudonym) has been speaking to a weary father in Hama, who said gunfire and tank fire was continuing this morning, its third consecutive day. He said some people were still out in the streets trying to defend the city but the escalation of the violence was making that very hard to do. Residents are trying to leave the city and head for surrounding villages or towns, he said. But the danger of leaving the house with children makes that very difficult too. They cut electricity and water neighbourhood by neighbourhood, he said, during which time each area becomes worried that it is their turn for intensive firing and tank shells. The residents, communicating by mobile phones among themselves and to other cities, are now hearing rumours that the city has 36 hours to surrender or the regime will do everything they will do to get it back, he said. 10.13am: Yesterday the European Union added five people on to the list of Syrians subject to asset freezes and travel bans. Today the EU named the five . They are the Syrian defence minister, Ali Habib, and several other security officials, including Tawfiq Younes, the head of internal security, Mohammed Makhlouf, President Bashar al-Assad’s close associate and uncle, Mohammad Mufleh, the head of military intelligence in Hama, and Ayman Jabir, who the EU says is “directly involved in repression and violence against the civilian population and co-ordination of Shabiha militia groups”. The Shabiha, or “ghosts”, are pro-Assad militia. Meanwhile, Italy has recalled its ambassador to Syria for consultations, citing Damascus’s “horrible repression against the civilian population”. Rome is urging all EU nations to recall their envoys to Syria. 9.58am: My colleague Nour Ali (a pseudonym) sends this video , uploaded yesterday, showing protests in Mohajireen, just 100 metres from the presidential residence in the Syrian capital of Damascus, and an area where there has been almost nothing before. _ 9.48am: Hello and welcome to today’s Middle East Live. Here is the latest so far this morning. Syria • Government troops have advanced through the central city of Hama this morning, taking up new positions a day after they killed 24 people across the country, according to activists. The town has been the target for heavy government attacks since Sunday, apparently aimed at heading off a planned escalation in Syrian protests during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began yesterday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in London, said today that yesterday’s death toll included 10 people in Hama, six in the Damascus suburb of Arbeen and three in the central province of Homs. Two were killed in the eastern town of al-Boukamal, two the coastal city of Latakia and one in Maadamiyah near Damascus, the group said. • The assault on Hama prompted European countries to try to revive a dormant UN resolution condemning Damascus. A revised text was circulated at the UN security council last night. Following the hour-long closed-door meeting, several diplomats told the Reuters news agency that after months of deadlock the scale of the new violence appeared to be pushing the divided security council members towards some form of reaction. “I detected a certain convergence of thinking, concern about the escalating violence,” said Indian ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri. “The members of the council all felt that the council should address itself to the situation and pronounce itself if the need be.” But there was disagreement over whether the council should adopt the draft resolution or come up with a less binding statement. The last time such a resolution was circulated, two months ago, China and Russia threatened to veto it; they – along with France, the UK and the US – hold veto powers. Critics have said they fear that even a simple condemnation could be the first step toward Western military intervention in Syria, as happened in Libya in March. The security council was briefed on Syria by Oscar Fernandez Taranco, the deputy head of the UN political department, after which all 15 permanent and temporary members of the SC spoke, but the body postponed discussion until today, diplomats told Reuters. My colleague Lizzy Davies has a story on today’s developments in Syria here . She says that a solution with the potential to unite all security council members, even Syria’s neighbour Lebanon, would be the issuing of a formal statement by the security council president that called for an end to violence and urged a peaceful political solution. Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who insisted a resolution would be “somewhat excessive”, said he thought such a move would be “satisfactory”. Here are the stories on Syria from today’s Guardian: Syrian opposition activists have appealed to the international community to increase pressure on the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as condemnation mounts over escalating bloodshed, report Ian Black and Peter Walker . Nour Ali (a pseudonym) and Ian Black report on yesterday’s attack on Hama. They say residents buried their dead in public parks and gardens to avoid risking more lives at funerals. In an editorial today, the Guardian argues that the only hope for Syria lies in the soldiers who are currently shooting protesters – some have defected already, and “sometime, somewhere a tipping point must surely come. But it has not yet.” Libya As mentioned in yesterday’s live blog , Libyan rebels have entered the town of Zlitan after a weekend of heavy fighting in which Nato escalated its bombing campaign in the runup to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Chris Stephen and Richard Norton-Taylor write in today’s Guardian that British defence officials say the Nato campaign is likely to be scaled down during Ramadan. They suggested that targets in Tripoli in particular would be avoided. Egypt The trial of former president Hosni Mubarak on charges of economic fraud and unlawful killing is set to begin tomorrow. Middle East Syria Libya Egypt United Nations Paul Owen guardian.co.uk

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