Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Middle East unrest – live updates

Unrest continues in Yemen as civil war draws closer, while the fate of the Bahrain grand prix will be decided at a meeting of Formula 1′s governing body. Follow live updates here 12.42pm: Fawaz al-Khalifa is the Bahraini government official who appears to have broken the news – via Twitter. @fawaz_alkhalifa Mabrook, Bahrain will host f1.. Al-Khalifa has since tweeted saying that FIA are now “finalising [the] date”. 12.32pm: A Bahraini government official has said that the Bahrain grand prix will go ahead. More as we get it. 12.07pm: The Independent has an enlightening piece on how some Bahrain grand prix staff have been detained and mistreated . In the run up to the decision on Formula One, police patrols have sought to prevent any demonstrations and controversial trials of pro-democracy protesters have been postponed. Ayat al-Gormezi, the 20-year-old girl poet, who was to be tried by a military tribunal on a charge of stirring up hatred and insulting the King, has had her trial put off until 6 June. Of the 108 local staff of the government-owned Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), which hosts Formula One, some 28 were detained and mistreated according to a source in Bahrain close to the event. All of those arrested are Shia and have since been sacked. Five of these are still in prison including the chief financial officer Jaafar Almansoor, an employee of BIC told Reuters news agency. “They made us beat and kick each other,” said the employee, who did not want to be named, describing their 20 days in detention. “They said they’d rape us. They tried to touch you in various places to make you think it’s going to happen.” The prisoners were insulted for being Shia and, on being released, were told not to talk to the media. This morning Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One commercial rights holder, said that a decision on whether to reschedule the postponed grand prix will have “nothing to do with money” . 11.56am: Yemeni security forces have shelled the Sana’a home of tribal leader Hamid al-Ahmar, Reuters is reporting. Jeb Boone, a freelance journalist based in Yemen, appears to have been close to the scene as it happened. He tweeted: @JebBoone Just said hi to an RPG on Hadda street by Hamid al-Ahmar’s house. #Yemen #YF Before adding: @JebBoone Thanks to a stunt driver cabbie, I made it out of Hadda. Its pretty bad up by Hamid’s house. #Yemen #YF 11.45am: Elsewhere, Vodafone’s claims that it helped inspire this year’s revolution in the Egypt (in fact it joined other mobile phone companies in following Egyptian government orders and implementing a communications blackout at the height of the revolution ) is not going down well – read Jack Shenker’s story on the saga here . (And here’s the advert in question ): – 11.33am: Associated Press reporting that Bahraini police have fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters marching toward Pearl Square in the country’s capital. The downtown square was the epicenter of weeks of Shiite-led protests against Sunni rulers earlier this year in the Gulf kingdom. Friday’s march in Manama comes two days after authorities lifted emergency rule. It was imposed in March to quell demonstrations by Bahrain’s Shiite majority demanding greater freedoms and inspired by uprisings across the Arab world. At least 30 people have died since February, when protests erupted in the tiny island nation, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The eyewitnesses spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. 11.26am: The bodies of 150 African refugees have been recovered off the Tunisian coast after the vessels carrying them illegally to Europe got into difficulty earlier in the week, according to a UN official earlier we heard 250 people were believed to be missing. 11.12am: Protests are planned in Syria today to mark “children’s Friday”, in memory of Hamza al-Khatib , a 13-year-old boy who was killed in the Deraa area and whose battered and mutilated corpse has become a rallying-point for anger at the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Ian Black wrote yesterday . Ammar Qurabi, head of the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, referred to the names of 1,113 civilians killed since the protests erupted on 18 March. International media are banned by a government which talks of facing “armed terrorist gangs” not largely peaceful protests. Although media are banned, it is possible to get some reports from the country. The Guardian has been told that the internet is not working “anywhere in the country” today – previously the al-Assad regime has attempted to block web access. 10.41am: The Times has an interesting piece today from Iona Criag in Sana’a, about water running out in the Yemeni capital ( paywall ). The price of water trebled overnight in Yemen’s battle-scarred capital and basic provisions were dwindling as thousands of tribesmen fought their way into Sana’a yesterday to join the rebellion against President Saleh… … Amid the ancient tower houses of Sana’a’s Old City, men, women and children rushed to a water tanker when it arrived outside a mosque yesterday. Tensions rose as residents jostled to fill cans and plastic containers. The cost of a water tanker delivery, usually 1,300 Yemeni rials (£3.50), soared to 7,000 amid the escalating conflict. With 40 per cent of Yemen’s 23 million people living on less than £1.50 a day, the prices will inevitable add to the cycle of violence. “They spend their money on bullets, but I can’t even afford water for my family,” shouted one desperate resident as he waited for his can to fill from a communal water tanker. Yemen already has really bad problems with water, with the wells of Sana’a expected to run dry by 2015 – check out this audio slideshow , produced before the Middle East unrest, on the water crisis in the country. 10.31am: Reuters reports that forces loyal to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh have fired at protesters in Sana’a this morning. In other parts of the capital, tribesmen siding with the protesters have fought pitched street battles with Saleh’s troops, including his special forces which were set up to fight al Qaeda, for control of government buildings. More than 350 people have been killed since the uprising started in January, but least 135 of them have been killed in the past 10 days in a marked escalation that began when tribal groups started fighting government troops in the capital Sana’a. Worries are growing that Yemen, home to a branch of al-Qaeda known as AQAP and next to the world’s biggest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, could implode and become a failed state that poses a risk to global oil supplies and security. Political veteran Saleh has backed away three times at the last minute from signing a Gulf-led deal to step down, clinging to power despite global pressure to resign and the defection of ministers and military leaders to the opposition. “But even if the president would agree, and so far he has shown no intention, one could not ensure the transition to go smoothly given that there are so many risks involved,” said Christian Koch, director of international studies at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. Saleh’s special forces were deployed to help “clean up” a ministry held by tribal forces, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday, as battles near the airport briefly grounded flights. 10.15am: Good morning. • The US is increasing its efforts to persuade Yemen’s veteran president to step down before escalating fighting between the government and tribal rebels develops into civil war, Ian Black writes . Reports from Sana’a said Saleh’s forces were deploying heavy weapons at the entrance to the city to prevent the advance of rebels loyal to Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, chief of the Hashid tribal federation, the country’s largest. At least 135 people have been killed in the last 10 days. • About 250 people are feared to have drowned after their attempt to flee the violence in Libya apparently ended in tragedy off the Tunisian coast, says John Hooper . Coastguards and military personnel are reported to have saved at least 570 people, all from sub-Saharan Africa, during a rescue operation in rough seas and shallow waters off the Kerkennah islands east of the Tunisian coast. • Formula 1′s governing body will meet today to decide the fate of the Bahrain grand prix. Bahrain had been due to host the opening race of the 2011 season but it was called off amid unrest in the country. Organisers have asked for the race to be rescheduled, although some have called for it to be cancelled. Follow live updates from across the region here. Middle East Yemen Bahrain Syria Tunisia Morocco Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 3, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.