Syria: Arab League observers head to Homs - live updates
Regime 'hides' tanks in flashpoint district of rebel city
Observers already in Homs 'unable to move freely'
Al-Qaida in Iraq claims bomb attacks in Baghdad
Iranian woman convicted of adultery 'may be hanged'
10.33am: The Arab League observer mission has arrived in Homs and is meeting with the governor of the province, AFP reports. It quotes Syria's Dunia television as reporting:
The Arab League observers' delegation has begun its meeting with Homs governor Ghassan Abdel Al.
9.33am: Tanks are reportedly being pulled out from the city of Homs as Arab League officials make their way there.
At least 11 tanks have withdrawn this morning from the particularly badly hit district of Baba Amr, Reuters quotes the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. But it also quotes Rami Abdelrahman, the organisation's chief, as saying the pull-out may not be quite as it seems:
Many tanks remain inside the neighbourhood; the army is hiding them inside government buildings. They also hid one inside an event hall.
A Homs-based activist has told AP that he too has seen armoured vehicles leave the city on a highway this morning. And Mohammed Saleh, another activist, reports that the intense bombardment of previous days has stopped.
Today is calm, unlike pervious days. The shelling went on for days, but yesterday was terrible.
The Arab League plan- to which the regime agreed on paper but not in practice- requires security forces and heavy weapons to be removed from city streets. It also calls on the government to start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country.
9.08am: Welcome to Middle East Live.
Today we'l! l be foc using on Syria, where the bloodshed continues even as Arab League observers touch down, and also keeping an eye on events in Egypt, Bahrain and other countries in the region.
Here's a brief summary of developments:
Syria
Observers from the Arab League have arrived in Syria to investigate to what extent- if any- the regime is complying with the organisation's peace plan. The head of the mission, Sudanese General Mustafa Dabi, was reported this morning to be heading to the city of Homs, where activists say continuing violence claimed at least 23 lives yesterday. But it is uncertain exactly what they will find. An activist has told Reuters that he has seen at least six tanks leaving the volatile district of Baba Amr already today.
The leader of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) has said some observers have already arrived in Homs, but have been unable to travel freely. Burhan Ghalioun, who is based in Paris, said the observers were "being held prisoners by the Syrian system".
Iraq
A front group for al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the wave of attacks that rocked Baghdad last week and killed 69 people, AP reports. Thursday's bombings were the first major attacks since U.S. troops completed a full withdrawal from Iraq this month. A statement posted on militant websites said they were supposed to support Sunni Muslims in jail and avenge those executed by the Shiite-led government.
An influential political bloc in Iraq loyal to the Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr has called for early elections as sectarian tensions soar. Baha al-Araji, the Sadrist parliamentary chief,said in a statement yesterday that his bloc wanted to "dissolve parliament and repeat elections".
Iran
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman whose sentence of death by stoning for adultery provoked an international outcry, could be hanged instead, the country's judicial authorities have indicated. Malek Ajdar Sharifi, the head of the judiciary in East Azerbaijan, said that, as the prison does not have the right facilities, authorities were considering hanging as an alternative.
Egypt
A court is expected to rule today in the case of a woman who took the military to court for subjecting her to a so-called "virginity test" earlier this year. Samira Ibrahim, 25, was among seven female protesters who claimed to have been assaulted in this way but is the only one to have taken the army to court.
Pressure is mounting on the authorities to hold presidential elections next month. A number of high-profile figures, including the writer Alaa Al-Aswany, have backed an initiative calling for a vote to be held on the anniversary of the revolution, Ahram Online reports. They say the proposal aims to "salvage the glorious revolution and end the bloodshed."
Yemen
The White House has denied reports that the US has decided to admit President Ali Abdullah Saleh for medical treatment. Spokesman Josh Earnest said a report in the New York Times, which said that Washington! had agr eed "in principle" to grant Saleh entry, was "not true". The paper stuck by its story.
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