• UN security council move to send observers to Syria
• Clashes reported near Turkish border
• Bahrain grand prix 'will go ahead' despite protests
Posted by
Brian Whitaker and Haroon Siddique
Friday 13 April 2012 10.36 BST
guardian.co.uk
Article history
A Syrian video still released by the Ugarit News on Thursday purporting to show a demonstration in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour. Photograph: AP
10.35am: Tunisia: Following attacks on journalists by the police, the National Union of Tunisian Journalists has decided not to cover the interior minister's activities for a week, Tunisia Live reports.
Aymen Rezgui, a member of the executive office of the union in charge of freedoms, stated that the reasons behind the decision are the repetitive attacks on journalists, whether physically or through insults, especially on April 9, when a number of journalists were assaulted and threatened.
"On April 9, policemen were attacking journalists and breaking their cameras. There is not respect for journalists, and the interior ministry did not take any measures to investigate the issue," he stated.
The minister, in turn, has denounced "parts of the media" for having "added fuel to the flames" regarding a demonstration in Tunis on Monday that resulted in clashes between police and protesters, AFP reports.
10.33am: Syria: Demonstrations, captured on video, have already begun in Erbeen and Babila, both Damascus, and al-Sakhur, in Aleppo.
10.04am: Syria: There's discussion on Twitter about the plan to send monitors to Syria. Ian Black, the Guardian's Middle East editor, reported last night that the draft UN security council would allow "an initial 30 observers" to monitor the ceasefire:
Diplomatic sources had earlier said this could rapidly become a 500-strong mission. The draft demanded that the government ensure freedom of movement for the observers and the ability to interview anyone they want in private.
The UN will be keen to avoid a repeat of the situation last December when the authorities were accused of misleading the Arab League monitoring mission.
"It will be no good if they are able to deploy in Homs and Hama if the regime can do what it wants unobserved in Idlib and Deraa," one official said.
The consensus on Twitter seems to be that 30 observers will be nowhere near enough.
Shakeeb Al-Jabri @LeShaque First they talked about 3000 UN peacekeepers. Then 233. Now we get a whole 30 monitors. #Syria
13 Apr 12
Chris Doyle @Doylech @ian_black 500 UN monitors will not be enough - minimum 1000 needed #syria guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr…
13 Apr 12
In a further tweet, Chris Doyle (of the Council for Arab-British Understanding) compares this with the number of monitors sent to Hebron in the West Bank ...
Chris Doyle @Doylech #hebron had 180 international observers for a pop of c180,000 #Syria has a pop of 23m, so does it get 23,000. No just 30 to start with....
13 Apr 12
9.50am: Syria: Every Friday the Syrian opposition gives a name to the protests and today it is "Revolution for all Syrians", which was chosen after an internet poll. The uprising has been criticised by some of his detractors as sectarian in nature.
Although a ceasefire is supposed to be in effect, it remains to be seen whether protests will be allowed as required under number six of Kofi Annan's six-point plan, which asks the Syrian authorities to "respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed".
The Local Co-ordination Committees activist group claims that in some areas, measures are being taken to prevent demonstrations/intimidate protesters:
Deraa: Nawa: Security and regime's army are deployed around Al-Imam Al-Nawawi Al-Kabeer mosque to prevent demonstrators to participate in Revolution For All Syrians Friday
Damascus suburbs: Mouadamiyeh: Security reinforcement backed by armoured vehicles and vehicles carrying anti aircraft entered the city. Snipers are deployed on a number of buildings, and security checkpoints are stationed around the city
Damascus suburbs: Harasta: All city's entrances and exists are blocked, and all mosques are besieged, in addition to disconnecting communications in the area
9.17am: Syria: French president Nicolas Sarkozy said today that he did not believe the Syrian government's declaration of a ceasefire was sincere and that international observers should be deployed to monitor the situation in the country.
Sarkozy said he had discussed the issue with President Obama in a conference call on Thursday, Reuters reports.
"I believe, and I discussed this yesterday afternoon with Barack Obama, that at the very least international observers must be deployed to establish what's going on," he said.
"I firmly believe the international community should live up to its responsibilities and create the conditions for (setting up) humanitarian corridors," he added.
Sarkozy and Obama called on Syria on Thursday to adhere "scrupulously and without conditions" to the UN-backed plan to end the violence in the country.
Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images 9.12am: Bahrain is "very quiet and peaceful" according to Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone. In remarks quoted by the Associated Press following the FIA's decision to go ahead with the grand prix in the kingdom on 22 April, he said:
There's nothing happening [in Bahrain]. I know people that live there and it's all very quiet and peaceful ...
I'm happy that our position is quite clear. We don't get involved in politics in a country ... They will sort out their internal problems [in Bahrain], I'm quite sure.
8.53am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East Live. We shall be following developments across the region but today, once again, our main focus will be on Syria where the ceasefire has entered its second day and may come under further strain if protesters heed the opposition's call for street demonstrations.
Syria
• Clashes have broken out this morning between Syrian troops and rebels in the Turkish border area, near the village of Khirbel el-Joz, according to a British-based activist organisation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
• The Syrian opposition has called for peaceful protests today, but with government tanks and troops still in position in towns and cities it is unclear whether large-scale gatherings will be feasible. Burhan Ghalioun of the opposition Syrian National Council has urged demonstrators to "put the regime in front of its responsibilities put the international community in front of its responsibilities".
• A draft UN security council resolution envisages sending 20-30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor compliance with Kofi Annan's peace plan. A vote on the resolution is possible later today and if it is approved the observers could arrive early next week.
Bahrain
• In what looks like a definitive statement on the Bahrain grand prix, the FIA – the governing body of Formula One – says the controversial race will definitely go ahead on 22 April. The FIA said: "Based on the current information the FIA has at this stage, it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running of a Formula One World Championship event in Bahrain. Therefore, the FIA confirms that the 2012 Gulf Air F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain will go ahead as scheduled."
Egypt
• In the continuing tussle over preparations for Egypt's presidential election, parliament – which is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood – has voted to ban candidates who held senior posts under ex-president Mubarak. This would exclude Omar Suleiman, the former intelligence chief, who has declared himself a candidate. The battle over who can or cannot stand is likely to continue however, and the justice ministry has already said parliament's move is unconstitutional.
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