• Clashes between Syrian defectors and army spread
• Low turn-out expected in local vote as opposition calls for boycott
• Speculation of Homs assault mounts ahead of 'deadline'
• Read the latest summary
Around 200 people have gathered for a protest in the Libyan city of Benghazi to protest against the National Transitional Council and comments made by its head Mustafa Abdel Jalil, according to AFP.
Tahini al-Sharif, a lawyer from Benghazi, was one of the protesters. She was quoted as saying:
Abdel Jalil has lot of questions to answer. The regime has not changed. It is the same which oppresses and marginalises cities...Abel Jalil is asking us to forgive Kadhafi fighters. Would he say the same thing if his son was killed or wounded in the revolution?
On Saturday Abdel Jalil said the Libyan people were "ready to forgive" those who fought for Gaddafi.
The remarks enraged those gathered today in Benghazi's Shajara Square. @FreeBenghazi tweeted:
Protesters in Benghazi:"Any1 from Gaddafi's reign,we don't want him,we don't want him,in the transitnl council" #Libya
Here's a video which apparently shows the demonstration in the square, with men chanting: 'The council we don't want it.'
The LCC opposition network in Syria has now revised today's death toll to 13- among them two children. 10 of the dead were in Homs, two in Hama and one in Idlib, it says.
Towns and cities that have become hotbeds of resistance to Bashar al-Assad's regime have taken to a new tactic to express civil disobedience: shutting up shop and keeping the children home from school.
AP reports that a call by opposition activists for an open-ended general strike starting from Sunday, if widely heeded, could place added economic pressure on Assad's regime at a time when it is already struggling with growing international sanctions and isolation.
Here's a video of shut-up shops in Homs, courtesy of the LCC. It could not be verified.
A resident of Homs, who did not want his name to be published, said:
Only bakeries, pharmacies and some vegetable shops are open.
AP adds:
The opposition wants the strike to remain in force until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases thousands of detainees. And there were signs it was being widely observed in particular in areas that are centers of anti-government protest.
Most shops and schools were shut Monday in the restive city of Homs and parts of the southern province of Daraa and the northwestern region of Idlib near the border with Turkey, activists said.
Residents in the capital, Damascus, said business continued as usual on Sunday and Monday with shops, schools and other businesses operating normally.
NATO will end its seven-year troop training mission in Iraq at the end of the month, a move that will coincide with withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, Reuters reported.
The decision follows U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement in October that U.S. troops would go home at year-end after talks to keep thousands there as trainers fell apart over immunity of U.S. forces from prosecution in local courts, which Washington had set as a precondition.
A statement from NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the decision to end the NATO mission launched in 2004 was taken at a meeting of alliance ambassadors in Brussels.
"Agreement on the extension of this successful programme did not prove possible, despite robust negotiations conducted over several weeks," the statement said, while adding that NATO remained committed to future cooperation with Iraq.
An unemployed man reportedly threw his shoes at Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in protest at not having received his benefits.
Shafaf.fr, a conservative news website, reported that the man was a laid-off worker in a textile factory in the northern city of Sari, where the president was visiting, according to AP.
It says that the shoes missed Ahmadinejad, and the man began to attack the government for his failure to receive his benefits.
Iran officially reports its unemployment rate at about 11 percent, but some experts say it is much higher.
The Monday report by Shafaf.ir is a rare example of the Iranian media reporting a humiliation reportedly suffered by the president. The website is close to Ahmadinejad's opponents.
The LCC opposition network in Syria is putting today's death toll so far at eight, with three women included. All victims, it says, were in Homs.
This video linked to by the LCC apparently shows random shelling in the city, with loud explosions heard and smoke seen billowing on the horizon. It was not possible to verify the video.
Another video, which has graphic content, apparently shows the bodies of three members of the same family in coffins. One is a small child. Again, it was not possible to verify its authenticity.
A woman has been executed in Saudi Arabia after being convicted of practising witchcraft, according to reports.
Amina bint Abdulhalim Nassar was beheaded in the northern province of Jawf for "practising witchcraft and sorcery," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency and quoted by AFP.
AP said the ministry gave no details on the woman's crime but confirmed that the execution had taken place today. It added:
The London-based al-Hayat daily quoted Abdullah al-Mohsen, chief of the religious police who arrested the woman, as saying she had tricked people into thinking she could treat illnesses, charging them $800 per session.The paper said a female investigator followed up, and the woman was arrested in April, 2009, and later convicted in a Saudi court.
More than 70 people have been executed this year in Saudi Arabia. At least three of them were women, AP says.
My colleague Ian Black has just filed this update on the clashes between government forces and armed rebels in Syria, which he says are fuelling fears of a significant escalation in the nine-month long crackdown on dissent.
Opposition sources reported army operations in the southern province of Deraa, near the Jordanian border.
Sana, the state news agency, reported three members of the security forces killed in a clash with what they described as a "terrorist gang". Four terrorists were also killed, it said.
The incident came a day after troops from the 12th Armoured Brigade stormed the nearby town of Busra al-Harir, where residents described explosions and heavy machine gun fire.
Defectors from the army have been hiding and attacking military supply lines in the area, Reuters reported.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported fighting on Monday between soldiers and defectors in the north-western region of Idlib, close to the Turkish border.
It seems clear that the rebels of the Free Syrian Army are able to operate more easily in the north and south of Syria.
Time for a lunchtime summary of the morning's developments.
Syria
• Activists say battles between troops and army defectors in the south of Syria have spread to new regions as tensions continue to rise. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said fresh clashes had been reported in the northwestern region of Idlib, while the LCC network said clashes were taking place in Hass, in Idlib. Fighting was also continuing for a second day in Daraa, in the south, AP said.
• Opposition fighters in the city of Homs have said they have been told to cease dissent by tonight or face an all-out assault by regime forces. CNN quoted activists as saying that local opposition figures were given 72 hours to stop protests, hand over weapons and surrender defectors on Friday. The report came amid growing speculation of an imminent attack on the city, a hotbed of resistance.
• The security situation and continuing crackdown have meant turn-out is expected to be low in local elections today. Several political parties have called for a boycott of the vote, which the government says is part of its reforms. Opposition figures say it is nothing of the kind. (See 10.04am.)
Bahrain
• David Cameron has held talks with the King of Bahrain, who is under pressure in his country to adopt reforms and ease an oppressive crackdown. The meeting, which Number 10 said was an opportunity for the British prime minister to press upon Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa the need for reform (see 10.53am), was seen by many as a chance for Britain to patch up relations. Protesters greeted the news with fury, calling for a protest to be held outside Downing Street. (See 11.53am.)
Yemen
• A group of al-Qaida militants has escaped from a prison in the southern city of Aden, once again reflecting security concerns in the volatile country. In the second such jailbreak this year, between 10 and 15 militants fled from the prison. (See 9.45am.)
• Police opened fire on protesters demanding a secession of southern regions in Aden, wounding one person, AP reported. Activists said the security forces stormed the separatists' tent encampment in Aden at dawn.
David Cameron's meeting with the King of Bahrain has provoked incredulity and anger from some commentators on Twitter.
Maryam Alkhawaja of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights says the campaign group Justice for Bahrain has called for a protest to take place outside Downing Street at 12.30pm today. She added:
What if #Mubarak visited David Cameron during Jan 25 revolution? Would that have been ok too? #egypt #bahrain #london #arabspring
She is not the only one to be unhappy at the news.
@Al_NaQi posted:
Mr.David Cameron, it's too shame on you to meeting the dictator and the killer King of #Bahrain ..!! #uk@AmyBH2 wrote:
David Cameron in the #UK is meeting the butcher Hamad , the king of #bahrain SHAME ON YOUAnd @abbasalomran added:
Bahrain King visit today to UK: Cameron embraces tyranny as you did with crown prince and killing still...
Police in Yemen opened fire today on protesters demanding a secession of southern regions in Aden, wounding one person, according to activists speaking to AP.
Security forces at dawn stormed a camp of tents that southern separatists erected in al-Oroud Square in Aden after they met U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar, activists said."Police opened fire at us. One police vehicle hit a protester and injured him," while security forces tore off the flags of former South Yemen and destroyed the tents, said an activist who requested anonymity.
Nasser al-Nuba, a leading figure in the Southern Movement umbrella group, told AFP that a delegation of the movement met Benomar and demanded the "right of the people of south Yemen to self-determination."
Syrian activists say battles between troops and army defectors are spreading after a day of fierce clashes in the south, AP reports.
The 9-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army.The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes were reported Monday in the northwestern region of Idlib. It says fighting also continued for a second day in the southern province of Daraa.
The Local Co-Ordination Committees, an opposition network, is also reporting clashes in Idlib. On its Facebook page earlier today, it wrote:
Idlib: Hass: Defection of six soldiers from a clinic at the town, which was occupied by the army and security forces. Clashes occurred between the defected soldiers and the army
Number 10 has responded to the BBC's report of David Cameron's meeting with the King of Bahrain, saying the talks are aimed at encouraging the leader to implement reforms. AP writes:
David Cameron's office said he is holding talks at Downing Street with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to press Bahrain to take up proposals outlined in a study published last month.A special commission, authorized by Bahrain's Sunni rulers, sharply criticized the use of torture, excessive force and fast-track justice to quell Shiite-led protests.
Bahrain's government promised "no immunity" for anyone suspected of abuses and said it would propose creating a permanent human rights commission.
Cameron's office said the leaders would also discuss trade.
Despite the Number 10 slant, the meeting could in fact be more intended to repair relations soured during the uprising against Khalifa's rule, argues the Huffington Post.
Relations between Britain and Bahrain were put under severe pressure during the revolt, with the UK's ambassador voicing public criticisms of the regime.Bahrain is a historic ally of Britain and the West and is home to the American navy's Fifth Fleet.
Tunisia's new consitutional assembly will this afternoon elect a veteran human rights activist whose unfashionable spectacles became a trademark of his campaign as the country's interim president.
Moncef Marzouki, leader of the secular Congress for the Republic which came second in the October elections, is to be annointed in a vote at 4pm local time, AP reports.
Unlike the previous system, under which President Ben Ali held a tight grip on power, the new assembly will give most power to the prime minister. Marzouki is expected to appoint a member of the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party to that post.
Marzouki, who was jailed for four months in 1994 for attempting to run for president against Ben Ali, made his glasses the symbol of the CPR. His fans loved the gesture, which they viewed as self-deprecating and witty, and turned out for campaign rallies wearing brightly coloured paper spectacles. Throughout the run-up to the elections, the slogan was "For a clearer vision".
More than 14.5 million are eligible to vote in the Syrian local elections today- but observers say a small fraction of that number will actually turn out to the ballot box.
Al Jazeera reports that campaigning has been less noticeable in cities such as Damascus and Aleppo than the last time such elections were held in 2007.
In restive cities rocked by anti-government protests, including Homs, Hama and Deraa, campaigning activities were almost nonexistent."There are only two signs calling people to vote in Hama: one in the Assi Square and another at the City Council," a resident of the central city told Al Jazeera.
"Activists distributed leaflets in the city calling on residents to boycott the elections," he said.
One resident of Homs is quoted as saying:
I didn't even know an election was taking place. The people of Homs have removed every picture of Bashar al-Assad from the streets, so don't expect to see pictures of candidates who are no more than stooges of the regime.
Unsurprisingly, the government narrative of these elections is rather different. It claims that these polls are part of its reformist efforts: the first local elections held since the President issued a new law in August conferring more power and financial independence on local administrations.
The official Sana news agency reported this morning that Syrians were flocking to the polls, which were held "in the framework of the ongoing process of building institutions, promoting democracy and achieving the comprehensive reform process led by President Bashar al-Assad."
But this version of events is given short shrift by many. Writer and activist Louay Hussein is quoted by Al Jazeera as saying:
The government is trying to show that the situation in Syria is normal, that it is on track with reforms. This is simply another manoeuvre from the regime that we do not buy into.
Those concerned about the security situation in Yemen will not be reassured by news from the country this morning, where officials say several al-Qaida militants have escaped from a prison in the southern city of Aden. AP reports:
A prison officer says at least 10 convicts escaped on Monday morning through a tunnel dug by the inmates. He says an investigation is under way.A security official says 15 militants fled, including several convicted of killing security officials and a bank heist.
Opposition fighters in Homs say they have been given until tonight to stop their protests, hand in weapons and surrender defectors- after which time government forces could stage a deadly attack.
CNN quotes Lt. Col. Mohamed Hamdo of the Free Syrian Army as saying that Syrian forces gave them 72 hours to meet the regime's requirements on Friday. The reported ultimatum would appear to bolster speculation that the regime is planning a fresh assault on the rebellious city.
According to witness accounts given to Reuters, clashes have been so fierce in parts of Homs that the city has come to resemble a war zone. In a disturbing dispatch, the news agency reported yesterday that "the dead can lie uncollected until the shooting dies down or darkness screens their recovery".
In daytime, sniper fire and bursts from heavy machineguns can make it too dangerous to retrieve the corpses of people shot on the open street.Accounts from people who have witnessed the scene in recent days, some having been wounded and escaped abroad, say the shooting is heavy and often indiscriminate.
Together with video distributed by opposition activists, it suggests that some parts of the city of over a million people now resemble a war zone.
The interim government that took power in Yemen last week faces an array of daunting challenges.
The New York Times reports that the flashpoint city of Taiz, which has seen much of the violence in recent months, could be a critical test of the military committee's effectiveness because the architecture of the city's conflict — mirroring the nation's at large — remains largely intact.
A proxy war has sprung up here around the protesters, pitting the government against its rivals in a contest of weapons and territory that has left parts of the city badly damaged.
The security forces are still led by the men whom the protesters blame for the deadly government response to the uprising. And the armed tribesmen who entered the fray on the side of the demonstrators say they are willing to withdraw but not to leave the city unprotected.
A rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel last night fell short and wounded a Lebanese woman, AP is quoting a senior Lebanese military official as saying.
The attack comes nearly two weeks after rockets fired from Lebanese territory hit the Jewish state for the first time in two years.
It follows rising concerns that conflict in neighboring Syria may spill across the border.
This latest rocket was fired late Sunday from the southern village of Majdal Silim and hit a home in Houla, another village close to the border, the official said on Monday.
Good morning. Here's a round-up of developments across the region.
Syria
• Local elections are being held across the country despite the ongoing crackdown by Bashar al-Assad's regime and the opposition's call for a boycott. Authorities have insisted the vote will be freer than in previous years, but with tensions as high as they are, few Syrians are likely to go out to cast their vote.
• Smugglers are doing a roaring trade selling guns and bullets to opposition fighters in Syria. The Guardian's Ghaith Abdul-Ahad has been on the Turkish border with them; you can read his compelling dispatch here.
Iraq
• The Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is to meet Barack Obama for talks in Washington today ahead of US withdrawal at the end of this month. Amid talk of a 'new chapter' in the countries' relations, the fate of the last detainee held by the Americans in Iraq looks likely to be controversial, reports the New York Times.
Bahrain
• The King of Bahrain, whose leadership is accused of mounting an oppressive crackdown on opposition, is visiting Britain for talks with David Cameron. The BBC reports that it is a visit that neither King Hamad Al-Khalifa nor the UK prime minister would have wanted to publicise.
Israel and Palestinian territories
• Israel has approved the construction of 40 homes and a farm in two new settler enclaves near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Haaraetz has reported. The plan, which the paper says was approved by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, will effectively signify an expansion of the Etzion Bloc of settlements toward the north and north-east.