After days of fierce fighting in Sanaa, President Ali Abdullah Saleh has reportedly fled the country for Saudi Arabia. Amid the chaos, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninusla seized control of the southern town of Zinjibar.
Iran cheers protesters in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain while apparently backing the repression in Syria—just as the US cheers protesters in Syria while backing the repression in Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain.
The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted a “Day of Rage” protests demanding the ruling military council cede power to an interim civilian body and postpone elections until political parties can be organized.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez phoned Syria’s Bashar Assad to pledge his support in the face of “fascist conspiracies” and “imperialist aggressions”—seemingly a little confused as to who the fascists are.
Gun battles erupted across the capital of Yemen as security forces clashed with fighters from the country’s most powerful tribe, in the fiercest battles yet between supporters and opponents of President Saleh.
Bahrain’s national appeal court unanimously upheld death sentences for two men convicted of killing police officers during anti-government protests in March. The court reduced the death sentences of two others to life in prison.
Thousands took to the streets across Syria for Friday protests, and security forces again responded with tear gas and live ammunition, leaving at least 32 dead. Protesters dubbed Friday “Azadi Day,” for the Kurdish word for freedom.
Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian ex-military officer who helped establish the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, has reportedly been named as al-Qaeda’s interim leader as the organization awaits a formal successor to Osama bin Laden.
At least two were killed and some 70 injured as presumed Salafists attacked Coptic protesters outside the state television building in Cairo with sticks, firearms and Molotov cocktails.
Thousands of Egyptians filled Cairo’s Tahrir Square in a Friday rally for national unity and solidarity with the Palestinians. The “Unity Rally” was called following deadly clashes between Muslims and Christians.
Security forces fired on protesters across both Syria and Yemen, leaving several dead, while in Bahrain the government is bulldozing dozens of mosques in Shi’ite villages as part of a crackdown on Shi’ite-led protests.
The US threatened to take unspecified “additional steps” in response to the continued repression in Syria as at least 27 were reported dead in Friday protests around the country.
