The escalation of terror attacks and violence could be halted if the militia forces were brought within a new regulated framework

The past month has been a tumultuous one for Libya. Successful local elections in Benghazi, in which voter turnout was impressive and a female candidate secured the largest number of votes, showed that the country can move towards becoming a state with viable democratic processes and representative leaders.

Yet, with every step it takes forward, Libya takes another two back. The security situation has deteriorated rapidly over the past two weeks. On Tuesday, it was the turn of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Misrata to come under attack. On Monday, the British ambassador's convoy in Benghazi was hit, with two bodyguards injured in the ensuing gun battle. Last week there was an attack on the US diplomatic mission in the same city.

Apart from terror attacks such as these, Libyans are fighting each other. Militiamen act with impunity, as the recent seizure of Tripoli airport showed, while clashes continue in the southern town of Kufra, where pro-government militiamen are locked in an armed conflict with tribal forces over smuggling routes. The clashes have so far claimed at least 20 lives.

Civil war and increased bloody lawlessness in Libya is now a real possibility, with all indicators suggesting the worst may be yet to come because of the continued lack of state control and failure to stabilise the security environment.

Militias continue to constitute the primary force in Libya, militarily and politically. They represent regions, tribes and powerful families, though some are simply criminal. Most act independently of the interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), especially the most powerful ones such as those from Misrata in the east and Zintan in the west – which are now essentially states within a state.

Although Libya has a more homogenous population than Iraq and Lebanon – and is therefore unlikely to suffer civil war on the same scale as in either of those countries – the future does not bode well because of two principal reasons.

First, national security lacks co-ordination and organisation – with the result that conflict between rival groups and criminal activities like smuggling and terrorism flourish in the gaps.

Second, the stakes are likely to be higher after the coming elections, rather than lower. Many Libyans argue that elections offer the best hope of stability in the form of a more assertive state – a view also shared by journalist Lindsey Hilsum.

However, the situation could become more volatile after the elections as the various factions contest one another for control of the country, its riches and the army – not least since rival militia forces will be contesting the elections directly or will have extensive links to the political leaders that emerge. Militia forces will, therefore, fear the personalisation of state institutions by rivals and look to assert their own control over the most powerful of ministries and institutions.

Thus, infrequent and localised struggles could turn into conflicts for survival and superiority. However, rather than pinning too much hope on the elections there are several steps that could be taken to both stabilise the country today and protect the population against protracted conflict in the future.

Some argue that the best way to give the state increased control is to reinforce the national army currently controlled by the NTC and equip it with more sophisticated weaponry. But that could escalate the problem by forcing the militias to amalgamate into coalitions in order to preserve their superiority; they will not back down in the face of an emboldened NTC army and will look to support from outside forces.

An alternative approach would be to accept that the most powerful militia forces will remain as the primary force on the ground – at least in the medium term – and that the NTC, unpopular and illegitimate in the eyes of the militias, is unlikely to be able to form an effective army independently. The most powerful of militias could, therefore, be integrated to form (and preside over) a centralised national army that combines with a power-sharing mechanism stopping any one group from consolidating too much power.

Finally, the existing regionalised security environment could be reworked so that while militia forces are kept intact and in some cases even strengthened, their military role would be sustained as part of a regulated framework underpinned by dispute-resolution mechanisms and one that makes them more organised, efficient and accountable forces able to protect their regions and national borders.

This would allow the militias to properly and legitimately maintain their status as law enforcers in the disparate regions they control while also allowing a centralised state force to emerge.

The so-called national army, operating out of Tripoli, would in this scenario simply co-operate with regional forces on matters of intelligence and military operations, while also intervening in local disputes as and when needed, and acting as a mediator in a manner akin to the mobile forces that existed in the 1950s and 1960s, under Libya's former ruler, King Idris.

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Metropolitan police meet Libyan officials as part of investigation into 1984 killing of officer outside London embassy

Two detectives have visited Libya as part of the investigation into the murder of the police officer Yvonne Fletcher.

The officers, from the Metropolitan police's counter-terrorism command, flew to Tripoli where they met Libyan officials to discuss how the investigation could progress.

In a statement, the force said: "We hope these preliminary discussions will pave the way for the MPS [Metropolitan police service] and Libyan authorities to work jointly to identify who was responsible for WPC Fletcher's murder in 1984."

The officers – a detective superintendent and a detective inspector – travelled to the Libyan capital on Monday and returned to the UK on Wednesday night.

They will remain in regular contact with Fletcher's family, who will be given an update about the visit, the force said.

Fletcher, who was 25, was shot dead as she policed an anti-Gaddafi demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London in April 1984. The bullets that killed her and injured 10 protesters came from inside the building.

Her death led to an 11-day siege of the embassy in St James's Square and the severing of diplomatic links between the UK and Libya.

Last month, the Libyan prime minister, Abdurrahim el-Keib, visited the spot where the officer was killed.

With mission accomplished in Libya, Africom now has few obstacles to its military ambitions on the continent

"The less they see of us, the less they will dislike us." So remarked Frederick Roberts, British general during the Anglo-Afghan war of 1878-80, ushering in a policy of co-opting Afghan leaders to control their people on the empire's behalf.

"Indirect rule", as it was called, was long considered the linchpin of British imperial success, and huge swaths of that empire were conquered, not by British soldiers, but by soldiers recruited elsewhere in the empire. It was always hoped that the dirty work of imperial control could be conducted without spilling too much white man's blood.

It is a lesson that has been re-learned in recent years. The ever-rising western body counts in Iraq and Afghanistan have reminded politicians that colonial wars in which their own soldiers are killed do not win them popularity at home. The hope in both cases is that US and British soldiers can be safely extricated, leaving a proxy force of allies to kill opponents of the new regime on our behalf.

And so too in Africa.

To reassert its waning influence on the continent in the face of growing Chinese investment, the US established Africom – the "Africa Command" of the US military – in October 2008. Africom co-ordinates all US military activity in Africa and, according to its mission statement, "contributes to increasing security and stability in Africa – allowing African states and regional organizations to promote democracy, to expand development, to provide for their common defense, and to better serve their people".

However, in more unguarded moments, officials have been more straightforward: Vice Admiral Robert Moeller declared in a conference in 2008 that Africom was about preserving "the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market", and two years later, in a piece in Foreign policy magazine, wrote: "Let there be no mistake. Africom's job is to protect American lives and promote American interests." Through this body, western powers are resorting to the use of military power to win back the leverage once attained through financial monopoly.

The small number of US personnel actually working for Africom – approximately 2,000 – belies both the ambition of the project and the threat it poses to genuine African independence. The idea, once again, is that it will not be US or European forces fighting and dying for western interests in the coming colonial wars against Africa, but Africans. The US soldiers employed by Africom are not there to fight, but to direct; the great hope is that the African Union's forces can be subordinated to a chain of command headed by Africom.

Libya was a test case. The first war actually commanded by Africom, it proved remarkably successful – a significant regional power was destroyed without the loss of a single US or European soldier. But the significance of this war for Africom went much deeper than that for, in taking out Muammar Gaddafi, Africom had actually eliminated the project's fiercest adversary.

Gaddafi ended his political life as a dedicated pan-Africanist and, whatever one thought of the man, it is clear that his vision for African was very different from that of the subordinate supplier of cheap labour and raw materials that Africom was created to maintain. He was not only the driving force behind the creation of the African Union in 2002, but had also served as its elected head, and made Libya its biggest financial donor. To the dismay of some of his African colleagues, he used his time as leader to push for a "United States of Africa", with a single currency, single army and single passport. More concretely, Gaddafi's Libya had an estimated $150bn worth of investment in Africa – often in social infrastructure and development projects, and this largesse bought him many friends, particularly in the smaller nations. As long as Gaddafi retained this level of influence in Africa, Africom was going to founder.

Since his removal, however, the organisation has been rolling full steam ahead. It is no coincidence that within months of the fall of Tripoli – and in the same month as Gaddafi's execution – President Obama announced the deployment of 100 US special forces to four different African countries, including Uganda. Ostensibly to aid the "hunt for Joseph Kony", they are instead training Africans to fight the US's proxy war in Somalia – where 2,000 more Ugandan soldiers had been sent the previous month.

Fourteen major joint military exercises between Africom and African states are also due to take place this year; and a recent press release from the Africa Partnership Station – Africom's naval training programme – explained that 2013's operations will be moving "away from a training-intensive program" and into the field of "real-world operations".

This is a far cry from the Africa of 2007, which refused to allow Africom a base on African soil, forcing it to establish its headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Gaddafi's Libya had served not only as a bulwark against US military designs on the continent, but also as a crucial bridge between black Africa south of the Sahara and Arab Africa in the north. The racism of the new Nato-installed Libyan regime, currently supporting what amounts to a nationwide pogrom against the country's black population, serves to tear down this bridge and push back the prospects for African unity still further.

With Africom on the march and its strongest opponent gone, the African Union now faces the biggest choice in its history: is it to become a force for regional integration and independence, or merely a conduit for continued western military aggression against the continent?

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ICC's new chief prosecutor must resolve standoff with Libya and bring relations with Africa back from breaking point

Times are hard for the international criminal court. It is nine years since it was established with notions of ending impunity for "unimaginable atrocities that deeply shock the conscience of humanity". The arrest in Libya last week of four members of the court's defence team, who were visiting Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, marked a new low in the court's history.

But with only one conviction in its history, an exclusively African caseload, and relations with other African states also at breaking point, the court's reputation leaves much to be desired.

Into the fray steps Fatou Bensouda, the Gambian who on Friday becomes chief prosecutor – the second in the court's history and the first African woman.

Her most immediate task will be to resolve the standoff with Libya, amid concern for the welfare of the ICC envoys after the Libyan government said they had been placed in "preventive detention" in prison for 45 days during investigations into alleged threats to Libya's national security.

Alexander Khodakov, of Russia, Esteban Peralta Losilla, of Spain, Lebanese Helene Assaf and Australian Melinda Taylor were arrested after meeting Gaddafi, who is in detention and has been indicted by the ICC. They were held at an unknown location before being moved to a prison.

Human rights groups have strongly condemned the move by Libya, which they say violates international law and the immunity given to ICC staff, and claim that they have not had access to legal advice. "The detention of the four staff members of the international criminal court is unacceptable," said Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association. "Defence rights are essential for any meaningful judicial proceedings at the national and international levels and should be adhered to in the proceedings of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's trial."

The detention comes after months of tension between the court and the Libyan government over where the toppled dictator's son and former spy chief, Abdullah al-Senussi should stand trial.

On the surface, it is hard to see how Bensouda, a public prosecutor and former attorney general of the Gambia, could be equipped to turn around the fortunes of the ICC, which is based in The Hague. Her country – with a population of only 1.7 million – is notorious as one of west Africa's last dictatorships, with opposition to President Yahya Jammeh's 18-year regime suppressed.

Yet among those who follow – and frequently criticise – the ICC, there is a surprising degree of faith in Bensouda's leadership, and a view that she has remained unscathed despite her professional relationships with Jammeh and the deeply unpopular outgoing chief prosecutor, the Argentinian Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

"I feel positive about Fatou's tenure as chief prosecutor," said Chidi Odinkalu, chairman of the Nigeria national human rights commission. "Will she wave a magic wand and cure all the difficulties that exist at the ICC at the moment? No. Can she bring positive disposition over time to transforming the polluted atmosphere in which the institution has been operating in Africa? Absolutely."

Controversy surrounding the ICC has centred on its relationship with Africa. It is currently prosecuting suspects in seven "situations" – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Uganda, Sudan, Kenya, Ivory Coast and Libya.

The first three of these countries self-referred to the court. Even that was controversial: Moreno-Ocampo was accused of going soft on co-operative rulers by not prosecuting government forces.

But it is the remaining cases that have drawn the most withering criticism of "LMO", as he is unaffectionately known in the African legal community.

Moreno-Ocampo's exclusive focus on Africa – at a time when two other international courts, the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda and the special court for Sierra Leone, were also prosecuting Africans for crimes against humanity – has drawn extensive criticism. Opportunities to investigate abuses in Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia and Iraq have largely been passed up, prompting a widespread belief within Africa that the court is an imperialist organ of western governments.

A full-blown crisis in relations between the courts and the African Union was triggered by the decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir in 2009 for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his role in the situation in Darfur. After Moreno-Ocampo ignored an AU warning that attempting to arrest al-Bashir could undermine peace talks in Sudan, African member states retaliated by flouting the warrant, and welcoming al-Bashir into their jurisdictions.

Bensouda's popularity stems in no small part from the fact that she is not Moreno-Ocampo. "Fatou brings a different set of skills and temperament from her predecessor, and that is a positive thing" said Odinkalu. "She has a pretty difficult job given the state of relations between the ICC and African states – things are quite honestly abysmal."

Despite her close professional relationship with Moreno-Ocampo, she remains a popular choice. "A lot of people have said that Fatou has been a yes man – someone that just followed or went along with LMO's policies, but she has made it clear that while it is important to consolidate the gains made over the past nine years, there are things that could be improved," said Alpha Sesay, a Sierra Leonean lawyer based in The Hague for the Open Society Justice Initiative. "I do really accept that things will be different under her."

"Fatou is someone who is ready to listen and provide answers. You can sense that this is a different regime from the past, that she wants to listen, and to have a dialogue," Sesay added.

Bensouda is also – crucially – African. "She qualified here in Nigeria but really made her name in the Gambia," said Odinkalu. "She did have a reputation as a principled but also sensitive and sensible leader of the bar and chief law officer of the country. She even came out of serving her stint at the justice ministry with her reputation intact … in fact she is one of the very few who has."

Bensouda was born in the Gambia in 1961 to a polygamous Muslim family, and raised by her father's two wives. She had more than a dozen siblings. It was in this family setting that Bensouda said she developed her sense of justice. Her father – who died from diabetes when she was young – provided equally for both sides of his family and instilled a sense of fairness in his children. "We did not have this unfortunate rivalry that sometimes happens in polygamous families, and we were all very good to one another," she has said.

After studying at the University of Ife in Nigeria, being called to the Nigerian bar, and attending the UN's International Maritime Law Institute in Malta, Bensouda spent 20 years climbing the ranks of Gambian public legal office, as director of public prosecutions, solicitor general and attorney general.

"Prosecuting is Fatou's area," said Amie Bensouda, a former solicitor general who has known Bensouda since school and served as her superior in public office and colleague in private practice. "She is a very able prosecutor, she is highly respected and independent.

"Fatou tried some other areas of work in her career … she worked at a bank at one point and worked with me in chambers on some civil matters. But I don't think she enjoyed it. The area of law that she is comfortable with is prosecution. Her career progression was fast but it was also meritorious."

Bensouda's international career began when she started work as a legal adviser at the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda, the Arusha-based hybrid tribunal that combined international and Rwandan law to try those deemed most responsible for the 1994 genocide. In 2004 she joined the ICC as deputy prosecutor working under Moreno-Ocampo.

Although she has defended her former boss, since her appointment was made public in December, Bensouda has set out new priorities for the court, including improving the quality and efficiency of investigations, ensuring violence against children and sexual and gender crimes are reflected in future charges, and improving the court's relationship with Africa.

"There is no question that the AU [African Union] is warming up to Fatou. How much further things go is going to depend a lot on her diplomatic skills," said Sesay. "And in that, she is going to be completely different from Moreno-Ocampo."

Many challenges remain. The first is to get Arab countries to sign up to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC – Tunisia stands alone as the only Arab nation to belong to the court. Libya, where acts committed by pro-Gaddafi forces during last year's uprising are before the court, has acted with aggressive defiance of its investigations, refusing to surrender Gaddafi.

Fatou inherits two cases instigated by Moreno-Ocampo at his own discretion – violations by forces loyal to former president Laurent Gbagbo in Ivory Coast, and the prosecution of six prominent figures for post-election violence in Kenya in 2007-8. Both are proceeding slowly and continue to attract controversy for their political ramifications.

Perhaps the most important task for Bensouda, international lawyers say, will be to change the court's approach towards victims. "People have the mistaken impression that it is just heads of state, motivated by their own self interest, who have criticised the ICC – it's not," said Odinkalu. "The first alarm bells were sounded by victims' communities – they have a sense of being used, abused, dumped and not cared for."

"Fatou's accession gives ICC an opportunity to redeem relationships with victims' communities, show them that it is capable of caring – she inherits a situation in which the ability to be deeply nuance is needed and if she has those skills, which she seems to, that will be an asset," said Odinkalu.

Bensouda insists that for her, helping victims is at the centre of what international criminal justice is really about. "That's where I get my inspiration and my pride," she said.

Potted profile

Born: Gambia, 31 January 1961

Career: Called to bar in Nigeria, qualified in international maritime law, public prosecutor in the Gambia's attorney general's office, DPP, solicitor general, attorney general and minister of justice. Legal adviser to the international criminal tribunal for Rwanda. Appointed deputy chief prosecutor at the international criminal court in 2004.

High point: Invited to attend African union summit in July, signalling thawing of relations between the AU and ICC strained under Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Low point: The Gambian government using the courts to suppress freedom of press shortly after Bensouda's tenure as attorney general and justice minister.

What she says: "I am an African and I am very proud of that … But I think it is not because I am an African that I was chosen for this position. I think my track record speaks for myself … I have been endorsed by the African Union, but I am a prosecutor for 121 states parties and this is what I intend to be until the end of my mandate."

What they say: "The 'helpful' thing about Bensouda is that merit and political expediency go hand in hand. She is a woman, she is African and she is considered to be highly capable." Rebecca Lowe, International Bar Association

• Court dissolves Egypt's new parliament
• Shafiq cleared to contest runoff, rallies his supporters
• Amnesty documents state-sponsored war crimes in Syria
• Convictions against nine Bahraini doctors quashed

Syria

• Amnesty International has documented fresh evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes being perpetrated as part of state policy, based on the more than 200 interviews with eyewitnesses, victims and their families. Donatella Rovera, who spent several weeks undercover in Syria conducting the research, urged the UN to take decisive action to stop attacks civilians.

For more than a year the UN Security Council has dithered, while a human rights crisis unfolded in Syria. It must now break the impasse and take concrete action to end to these violations and to hold to account those responsible.

The report calls on Russia and China to halt arms sales to Syria and for Assad regime to be referred to the international criminal court.

• A bus bomb has exploded in the capital Damascus, the state news agency Sana reported. Security reinforcement rushed to the area, and heavy gunfire was heard afterwards, an activist in the city said.

• The US has alleged that Russian-made weapons are killing Syrians on "an hourly basis" as the accusations fly between Washington and Moscow over arms supplied to Syria. In the face of a strong denial from the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, stood by her assertion that Russian attack helicopters are on their way to Syria.

Here's a run-down of the diplomatic ding-dong so far:

Clinton: "They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn't worry, [that] everything they're shipping is unrelated to [Syria's] actions internally. That's patently untrue, and we are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically."

Lavrov: "We are not delivering to Syria, or anywhere else, items that could be used against peaceful demonstrators. In this we differ from the United States, which regularly delivers riot control equipment to the region, including a recent delivery to a Persian Gulf country [Bahrain]. But for some reason the Americans consider this to be fine ... [The US is] providing arms and weapons to the Syrian opposition that can be used in fighting against the Damascus government."

Clinton: "We have repeatedly urged the Russian Government to cut these military ties completely and to suspend all further support and deliveries. Obviously, we know [Russia is supplying helicopters], because they confirm that they continue to deliver .. The United States has provided no military support to the Syrian opposition, none. All of our support has been medical and humanitarian to help relieve the suffering of the Syrian people, a total of $52m so far. We have also provided nonlethal support to the opposition, including things like communications gear."

• The helicopters on their way from Russia to Syria maybe not be new, officials and analyst have told the New York Times.

What Clinton did not say, however, was whether the aircraft were new shipments or, as administration officials say is more likely, helicopters that Syria had sent to Russia a few months ago for routine repairs and refurbishing, and which were now about to be returned.

• The UN has backtracked on the claims by its peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous that Syria has descended into civil, Foreign Policy reports. It quotes a spokesman for UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon as saying: "it's clear it's not for us to determine or formally characterize the nature of the conflict in Syria."

• France insists the crisis is a civil war and that all means, including force, should be used under international supervision to help restore peace, the Wall Street Journal reports. French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said he would propose that the UN security council vote on a resolution giving UN members a mandate to intervene in Syria, possibly as part of a military operation.

• Russia's position on Syria is "shocking, mendacious and indefensible," but Moscow will have to bargained with to find a solution to the crisis, according to Timothy Garton Ash.

Have they no other national interests, which might eventually outweigh this one? Now that's a question worth asking. If we are really serious about our commitment to stopping the slaughter in Syria, we in the west have to consider if there are any larger carrots and sticks we can still show Russia, even at some cost to ourselves, so as to achieve a shift in its position.

Egypt

• The future of Egypt's political transition hangs in the balance as the country awaits a court verdict on the constitutionality of both the new parliament and the presidential election, Ahram online reports. The High Constitutional Court is due to rule on two cases. The first could dissolve the new parliament on the grounds that the way MPs were elected was unconstitutional. The second could disqualify former prime Ahmed Shafiq as a candidate in the this weekend's president runoff on the grounds that as a member of the former regime he is prohibited from standing.

Tunisia

• A military court has sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to life in prison in connection with the killing of 23 demonstrators by police during the revolt that sparked the Arab spring. The mixed panel of military and civilian judges pronounced Ben Ali guilty of complicity in murder and attempted murder. Prosecuting lawyers had sought to prove there were high-level orders to kill protesters. However, lawyers on both sides said they were disappointed that investigating magistrates had failed to reconstruct the exact sequence of events in the hours leading up to the deaths.

Libya

• The Libyan leadership said it was powerless to release four officials from the international criminal court who are being detained after visiting Muammar Gaddafi's imprisoned son, Saif al-Islam, writes Julian Borger.

The Libyan attorney general's office said that the ICC detainees, who were organising Saif's legal defence, would be held for 45 days during the investigation, deepening the crisis in relations between Libya and the international community over the incident. The four appear to have been caught in a three-way tussle between the Tripoli government, the Zintan militia holding Saif, and the ICC over where Saif should be put on trial for alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Libyan insurrection last year.

9.43am: China has again signalled its backing for Syria.

China's foreign ministry said it does not approve of excessive reliance on pressure or sanctions to address the crisis, al-Jazeera reports.

9.49am: "Virtually everyone I met [in Syria] asked one thing and that was 'why is the world not doing anything to help us?'" said Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser Donatella Rovera.

Speaking in a video to accompany Amnesty's new report, she added: "Everyday I saw people being killed and injured."

10.00am: Bahrain: AP has the latest on mixed fate of medics accuses of treating protesters in last year's uprising.

A defense lawyer in Bahrain says a court has sentenced nine medical professionals to prison terms ranging from five years to one month in a retrial on charges of aiding the Gulf kingdom's uprising.

Lawyer Jalila al-Sayed says nine other doctors and nurses were cleared of charges Thursday. Fifteen-year sentences against two doctors who fled Bahrain also stood.

The 20-member group had been sentenced to prison terms of between five and 15 years by a now-disbanded security tribunal, which was set up by the Sunni monarchy as part of crackdowns against Shiite-led protests that began 16 months ago.

A retrial in civilian court was ordered earlier this year. Bahrain authorities accused staff at the state-run Salmaniya Hospital of siding with protesters. Medical personnel deny the allegations.

Commenting on the mixed verdicts activist Ala'a Shehabi tweeted:

Medics trial is microcosm of govt's half-measures for PR, perpetuating crisis, avoiding a resolution thru justice & accountability #bahrain

— Dr Ala'a Shehabi (@alaashehabi) June 14, 2012

Activist Mohammed Ashoor tweeted:

I'm happy for the doctors proved innocent but justice is still not fully done. All of them are innocent. #Bahrain

— Mohammed Ashoor (@MohmdAshoor) June 14, 2012

10.12am: Egypt: The post-Mubarak transition could be doubly derailed today – and we should know in a couple of hours or so. The Supreme Constitutional Court is meeting to consider whether former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq is legally qualified to stand in the presidential election this weekend, and also whether the recent parliamentary election was legally valid.

There are various possible outcomes, which Zeinobia discusses on her Egyptian Chronicles blog, though almost everyone expects the court's decision to be driven more by politics than strict legal niceties.

According to legal expert Ibrahim Yousry, quoted by Ahram Online, "it is unlikely the verdicts will mean halting the elections and reversing the democratic process because that may have serious consequences". More likely, Yousry says, these potential verdicts are being used as negotiating cards with Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate in the presidential election.

Ahram Online continues:

Political analyst Ibrahim El-Hodeiby believes the most likely scenario is that nothing will be changed, as the Disenfranchisement Law [excluding Shafiq from the presidential election] would be considered unconstitutional and the parliamentary elections constitutional.

"I think Shafiq will become president and the Brotherhood will be offered the government instead. That way the Brotherhood will be made responsible for three difficult issues including the gas cylinders crisis, the shortage of bread and the shortage of gasoline," El-Hodeiby speculated.

"In other words, the deep state [military, secret service and media] will work to make the Brotherhood lose popular support. The Brotherhood will agree to this deal because they do not want to be responsible for the presidency."

10.21am: Russia's foreign ministry has repeated Sergei Lavrov's denials about arming Syria, but it has again underlined that it does not back the Assad regime "but the fundamentals of state".

It's a distinction that suggests Moscow may be open to backing the so-called "Yemenski Variant" - named after a Gulf brokered deal to remove Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh in return for granting him immunity from prosecution.

Sergey #Lavrov: Russia does not supply #Syria or any other country with special equipment that is used against peaceful protesters

— MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) June 14, 2012

#Lavrov: It is not the #Syrian regime that Russia supports but the fundamentals of state, which are cornerstones of stability in the region

— MFA Russia (@MFA_Russia) June 14, 2012

10.32am: Iran's state media has been blamed for mistranslating Lavrov's reported claim about the US arming the Syrian opposition, Bloomberg reports.

Iran's state-run Mehr news agency had Lavrov saying:

Unlike the US, which supplies arms to the Syrian opposition that can be used against the Syrian government, we don't take such action.

Audio recording reveal that what he actually said was:

We aren't shipping to Syria or anywhere else things that can be used against peaceful demonstrators. Unlike the United States, for example, which regularly delivers such special equipment to the region, including a recent delivery to one of the countries of the Persian Gulf.

10.50am: Syria: UN monitors have arrived in the town of the north-west town of Haffeh, after government forces 'cleared' the area of 'terrorists'.

On Tuesday Assad supporters prevented monitors reaching the besieged town, and they were shot at as they left.

10.58am: The Palestinian cause "has always been and will remain the compass for the Syrian people", President Assad said yesterday according to a report from the government news agency, Sana.

He was meeting a delegation from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command, led by its secretary-general Ahmad Jibril.

Talks during the meeting dealt with the latest developments in the occupied Palestinian territories and the violations that are being daily committed by the Israeli occupation forces ...

Discussion also touched upon the situation in Syria, with Jibril stressing that the Front stands by Syria who has always stood by the Palestinian people and the national resistance movements.

The Assad regime's claims to legitimacy are largely based on resistance to Israel – which some argue is a reason not to support the uprising in Syria. In an article for the Lebanese al-Akhbar yesterday, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb wrote:

The real litmus [test] of Arab intellectuals' and activists' commitment to the Palestinian cause is no longer their support for Palestinian rights, but rather, their support for the Assad leadership's struggle against the imperialist-Zionist-Arab moderate axis' onslaught against it.

Supporting Assad's struggle against this multi-pronged assault is supporting Palestine today because Syria has become the new front line of the war between Empire and those resisting it.

The article was widely criticised on Twitter, and there is a response to it on the Maysaloon blog.

11.23am: Tunisia: Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi has called for demonstrations tomorrow to "protect the revolution and things considered sacred".

Tunisia Online says representatives of other political parties have been trying to persuade him to call off the protests, for fear they could lead to clashes with religious extremists.

Selim Abu Ahmed Ayoub, a prominent Tunisian Islamist who announced a "holy war" against the Ennahda-led government, has also called for protests tomorrow.

Ennahda has also come under fire from al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri. In an audio message posted online last Sunday, Zawahiri said:

The leaders of the Ennahda party claim to be a part of what they call moderate, enlightened Islam. Well, let them call themselves whatever they want, but they are ... one of the symptoms of our civilisational diseases.

Ghannouchi shrugged it off, saying "Zawahiri does not have any influence in our country."

11.41am: Egypt: Dozens of protesters have gathered outside the Supreme Constitutional Court in the Cairo neighborhood of Maadi, the Egypt Independent reports.

The protesters chanted to demand the court uphold the Political Isolation Law, which would likely disqualify former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq from the presidential runoff scheduled for Saturday and Sunday ...

Traffic on the Nile Corniche was paralysed, with cars lined up for several kilometers, prompting police to redirect vehicles to alternative routes.

The judges arrived at the court guarded by police and army forces at 9am. Tight security measures were enforced in the surrounding area and hundreds of soldiers and Central Security Forces, with their armoured vehicles, lined up around the court.

11.59am: Syria: An army offensive in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor killed at least 11 people after the rebel Free Syrian Army destroyed at least one government tank.

Activists uploaded footage purporting to show the remains of a tank in the city.

An overnight barrage from nearby hills followed the withdrawal of hundreds of troops backed by tanks that had entered the city on Wednesday to root out rebels, sources told Reuters.

"Deir Ezzor was hit by a few artillery rounds during the first army attack on the city back in August, but this is the first time we have seen sustained shelling," said a source at a hospital in the city, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"Two rebels were among those killed. The rest of the casualties were mostly civilians."

The shelling damaged dozens of houses on Port Saeed street and in the al-Jubeila neighbourhood, where a Ministry of Finance department building was hit, opposition campaigners said.

Two rounds fell on the site of regular rallies against Assad in the al-Hamidiyeh neighbourhood, but no protesters were there, the sources said.

Insurgents fought back against the ground offensive on Wednesday with rocket-propelled grenades, hitting four armoured vehicles. Saleh al-Shohat, a rebel commander, was killed by tank fire, they said.

The activist group the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria reported heavy fire on Al-Nahr Street.

12.24pm: The UK's foreign secretary William Hague has lobbied Russia to back a political transition in Syria.

He met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the sidelines of a summit on Afghanistan.

Held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on crisis in #Syria & proposal for international conference on Annan plan & transition

— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) June 14, 2012

12.46pm: Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court has adjourned for the judges to consider their verdict. They are expected to announce their decision this afternoon, Ahram Online reports.

.

1.15pm: Egypt's presidential election will go ahead as planned this weekend. The Supreme Constitutional Court has ruled that Ahmed Shafiq's candidacy is valid.

However, the court has also upheld an earlier court ruling that one-third of the members of parliament were elected unconstitutionally.

1.28pm: The Muslim Brotherhood's share of the seats in the new Parliament has been substantially cut, according to the Arabist.

FJP had 47.2% of seats. Now it has 38.25% according to my back-of-the-envelope calculation

— arabist (@arabist) June 14, 2012

The ruling will mean that a third of the seats in parliament - the ones run on a single winner system - will have to be re-contested, according to our Cairo stringer Abdel-Rahman Hussein.

1.31pm: Egypt: Today's ruling from the constitutional court means than fresh elections will have to be held for at least one-third of the parliament. The members who have lost their seats are predominantly from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, and the Salafist Nour Party.

An administrative court said in February that the rules employed at the last election were unconstitutional – and the constitutional court has now backed its decision. In the parliamentary vote, two-thirds of seats were allocated to parties and the rest to individuals who were supposed to be independent of any party.

The administrative court judge said political parties should not have been allowed to run for the individual seats. He also said half, rather than a third, of the seats should have been apportioned to individuals.

"If it is proven that the election rules were flawed or unconstitutional, then the entire election process is void," Judge Gamal said. "It would mean that this parliament is unconstitutional, illegitimate and must be dissolved."

Although the ruling from the administrative court implied that fresh elections would be required for the entire parliament, first impressions of the constitutional court's decision are that only one-third of the parliament will have to be re-elected.

In the meantime, some are suggesting that parliament will be unable to function.

1.35pm: Egypt: The security services are anticipating protests at the court's decision to allow former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq (pictured) to contest this weekend's presidential runoff, against the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi.

Sky's James Birtles tweets:

Troops outside cairo court running to protest line. Crowds angry here to decision keeping Shafiq in race. twitter.com/SkyNewsEd/stat…

— James Birtles (@SkyNewsEd) June 14, 2012

Cairo-based journalist Sarah El Sirgany tweets:

One woman trying to lead chants of ' to the square'

— Sarah El Sirgany (@Ssirgany) June 14, 2012

1.48pm: Egyptian state TV, citing a constitutional court source, is saying that the parliamentary election held earlier this year is now completely void – not just the one-third of members who are ruled to have been elected unconstitutionally.

1.50pm: So far the anti-Shafiq protests outside the court are relatively small.

Crowd of a few dozen chanting against Shafik outside SCC. Central security forces and APCs watch behind barbed wire twitter.com/sharifkouddous…

— Sharif Kouddous (@sharifkouddous) June 14, 2012

1.57pm: Egypt: Marc Lynch director of Washington's Institute for Middle East Studies sums up the situation following today's rulings.

So basically that's it for Egypt's epic screwup of a transition. No Parliament, no constitution, divisive Presidential election.

— Marc Lynch (@abuaardvark) June 14, 2012

2.01pm: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood said it would accept the verdict on Shafiq but declined to comment on the decision to dissolve a third of the parliament, Reuters reports.

Asked about the Shafiq verdict verdict Mahmoud Ghozlan, spokesman for the Brotherhood, said: "It's a reality now, and we must deal with it as such."

In a separate ruling, the constitutional court ruled as unconstitutional some of the rules that governed a parliamentary election that returned an Islamist-dominated chamber.

Essam el-Erian, a senior Brotherhood MP, declined to comment on the ruling until he had seen the full details. The ruling declared as void one third of the seats in the chamber.

2.06pm:Egypt: Just to clarify state TV has retracted that claim that a court source said the verdict means the whole parliament is void.

The Arabist puts us right:

OK so State TV now correcting itself, saying only 1/3 seats invalid, not whole parl.

— arabist (@arabist) June 14, 2012

If it's correct that only one-third of the Egyptian parliament has been dissolved, that still leaves a major problem.

The Arabist also points out that article 32 of the constitutional declaration says the People's Assembly (parliament) must have at least 350 members – but as a result of today's decision it now has only 332. It appears, therefore, that the parliament will be paralysed until the vacancies have been filled.

2.19pm: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood will give press conference about today's ruling this evening.

It's official Twitter feed sent out this:

Press conference tonight 6:00PM at #Morsi campaign HQ, 38 el Mansour St, Tahrir, to discuss latest Supreme Court decisions #EgyPresElec

— Ikhwanweb (@Ikhwanweb) June 14, 2012

2.40pm: Egypt: A few reactions to the latest developments, starting with a joke ...

So three Egyptian MPs walk into a bar, but only two walk out.

— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) June 14, 2012

Egypt needs to stop talking about a revolution and have one already.

— arabist (@arabist) June 14, 2012

No parliament, no constitution, no president - welcome to Egypt February 12, 2011.

— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) June 14, 2012

So, either the endgame of the worst transition ever or of the best power play ever. #Egypt

— Andy El-Zayaty (@Fauxgyptian) June 14, 2012

2.42pm: Here's a summary of events so far today:

Egypt

• Egypt's political transition has been thrown into chaos by a court ruling which dissolves a third of the seats in the new Parliament. The court ruled that the system for electing a third of the MP was unconstitutional.

• Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq (pictured left) has been cleared to contest this weekend's presidential run off against the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi (right). The court ruled that banning Shafiq as member of the former regime was unconstitutional. There was a heavy police presence outside the court as activists gathered to protest against the verdict. The Muslim Brotherhood said it accepted the verdict on Shafiq.

Syria

• The UK's foreign secretary William Hague has lobbied Russia to back a political transition in Syria. He met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at the sidelines of a summit on Afghanistan. Hague signalled that Britain would not attend a Russia-proposed conference on Syria if Iran was invited.

• An army offensive in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor killed at least 11 people after the rebel Free Syrian Army destroyed at least one government tank. "Two rebels were among those killed. The rest of the casualties were mostly civilians," a hospital source told Reuters.

• UN monitors have been allowed to inspect the he north-west town of Haffeh, after government forces 'cleared' the area of 'terrorists'. They found the place deserted, after rebels fled the area.

• Amnesty International has documented fresh evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes being perpetrated as part of state policy, based on the more than 200 interviews with eyewitnesses, victims and their families. Donatella Rovera, who spent several weeks undercover in Syria conducting the research, urged the UN to take decisive action to stop attacks against civilians.

Bahrain

• Convictions against nine Bahraini doctors accused of playing leading roles in anti-government protests last year have been quashed and sentences against nine others downgraded by an appeals court. In a contentious ruling that follows widespread international condemnation of the medics' trials, one senior orthopedic surgeon, Ali al-Akri, still faces five years' imprisonment, while another, Ibrahim al-Dimistani, has been sentenced to three years.

2.52pm: Egypt: Abdel-Rahman Hussein in Cairo, reports more confusion on the extent of today's ruling.

The court ruled that a third of the seats in both the upper and lower houses were contested in an unconstitutional manner. However, the head of the court has just told Jazeera that the ruling means parliament in its entirety be dissolved.

3.13pm: Egyptian politics is prone to exaggeration and panic, Marc Lynch writes in an article for Foreign Policy. Things are often not as desperate as they seem – and yet, "today's moves by the constitutional court on behalf of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [Scaf] seem difficult to overcome and likely to push Egypt on to a dangerous new path".

Today's court decision looks like a decisive victory for Scaf but Lynch thinks this is not the end ...

It's only the beginning of a new phase of a horribly mismanaged "transition" which is coming to its well-earned end. What's next? A replay of Algeria 1991? A return to January 25, 2011? Back to 1954? A return to the petulant slow fail of latter-days Mubarak? An alien invasion using nano-weapons and trans-Galactic wormholes in the Pyramids?

Nobody really seems to know ... but I'm pretty sure we're not going to see a return to stable CloneNDP-SCAF rule. Of course, this being Egypt, maybe tomorrow the Court will just overrule itself and we can all go back to normal ...

3.16pm: Egypt: Al-Jazeera claims to have documentary evidence that the entire parliament has been dissolved:

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh has copy of court decision, stating that entire parliament has been dismissed due to electoral violations #Egypt

— AJELive (@AJELive) June 14, 2012

3.32pm: Egypt: The Associated Press is now saying that the whole of the Egyptian parliament has been dissolved:

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that a third of the legislature was elected illegally. As a result, it says in its explanation of the ruling, "the makeup of the entire chamber is illegal and, consequently, it does not legally stand."

The explanation was carried by Egypt's official news agency and confirmed to The Associated Press by one of the court's judges, Maher Sami Youssef. The ruling means that new elections for the entire parliament will have to be held.

3.35pm: Egypt: Rawya Rageh of al-Jazeera tweets that the ruling military council, Scaf, is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the constitutional court's decision.

3.45pm: Egypt: Presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq is giving a televised speech which began with the national anthem.

He speaks of a "historic ruling" by the court, which will end people using laws from their own purposes. "We will never, from now on, humiliate the laws."

"I call upon all the Egyptian voters to make sure they will practise their right in voting.

"The future of Egypt will be written now. There is no need to use threats in this democratic atmosphere.

"I am quite sure the electoral process will be totally protected by the armed forces of Egypt and the police of Egypt."

(Cheers and chanting from the crowd)

3.46pm: Egypt: Today's decision is being seen as "soft coup" by the military, a massive blow to the Muslim Brotherhood, and raises serious questions about the independence of the judiciary, says Abdel-Rahman Hussein.

In audio reports from Cairo he said all the gains made by the Muslim Brotherhood appear to be disappearing into thin air.

In the absence of parliament, legislative power reverts back to the military junta that has been ruling Egypt in the transition period. So they [The Muslim Brotherhood] have lost a big junk of what they have gained post revolution.

Many are predicting that today's ruling could help the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi in this weekend's presidential runoff, Abdo said. But he added: "I'm not really sure whether that is going to tip the balance in his favour. The predictions are that it could go either way."

Activists feel the Muslim Brotherhood has sold out the revolution, so they won't get much sympathy from the streets, he said.

What we are looking at, especially if Shafiq wins [the runoff], is a president with executive powers and the military junta that backs him with legislative powers until a new parliament is formed. In that case they will have the complete monopoly on the [formation] of a new constitution

.

Repeated questions are being asked about the independence of the judiciary, Abdo added.

Everyone considers this a politicized verdict tilted towards the state and the military junta. It comes after a series of court cases in a similar vein. The initial constituent assembly was rendered unconstitutional [by the courts] last March. There is a lot of doubt cast on the Egyptian judiciary regarding their independence and where their loyalties lie.

3.55pm: Syria: Here's the Foreign Office account of Hague's meeting with Lavrov.

The two Ministers discussed the crisis in Syria. They agreed that the situation in Syria had got worse in all respects since the two Ministers had last met in Moscow on 28 May. The foreign secretary reiterated his welcome in principle for the Russian suggestion of an international conference on Syria, which he had discussed on Monday with joint special envoy Kofi Annan. The foreign secretary said that any such conference should set out the principles of a political process in Syria, including a plan for political transition in Syria and full implementation of the Annan Plan. He underlined British concern that the possibility of Iranian attendance at any such meeting was probably unworkable. It was important that the United Nations Security Council remained seized of the situation in Syria.

The foreign secretary asked Russia to use its full influence on the Syrian regime to ensure a peaceful resolution of the situation through a political process.

3.59pm: Egypt: "I will confront chaos and restore stability in the country," Ahmed Shafiq said at his press conference.

He added:

For those who will be appointed in the government, they will be appointed according to their ability. I pledge a massive project for housing. Youth centres will be all over the place.

I guarantee the right for protesting over the internet or in the squares.

Those who fear the future, those over their thirties, those who think they have lost any chance ... the chances are there. The train hasn't left the station. I will give all the facilities that will enable you to achieve your dreams and have a chance to work.

My great people of Egypt, dear sisters and brothers, I have met with thousands and thousands and I felt their problems, those who lost their jobs. I felt the feelings of a mother ...

We need to build the new country and the new Egypt. I'd like to be the president and the servant of all Egyptians.

I will repeat it. I am going into this election so as to be a servant to all Egyptians.

I am ready to co-operate with everyone. No one will be isolated or banned from doing anything. No opposition will be hurt.

For anyone who knows their religion, their proper religion, you will never be chased by the security forces. Variety is always acceptable, you will never be hurt because of your point of view. The great Egyptian society is tolerant, tolerant.

(Referring to Morsi, he describes him as a partner, not an opponent.)

Despite the campaign against me, I will continue. Despite the papers and the media of the Muslim Brotherhood still continuing claims against me, I will never change my attitudes.

I am repeating this, we need a new page for the sake of reconciliation. Egypt will be for all Egyptians a modern country, a fair country with sustainable development.

Egypt needs leadership and needs a man. When we have security the investments will naturally come to Egypt and we will move on.

4.10pm: Egypt: Shafiq's speech continues. He is making a lot of bold promises which may prove difficult to fulfil. He is officially giving a press conference, though it appears much more like an election rally.

We will protect Egyptian national security and we will help our brothers without giving up any of our rights.

We are not going to send our sons in wars where we don't have any interests.

Security is a guarantee to restore tourism that will provide us with a solid infrastructure.

Security will help us to establish the special economic zone within a new investment plan that will be marketed from the very first moment. We will have new chances for people to work – men and women, girls and boys.

A presidential commissioner will be appointed for Upper Egypt.

We will establish a special economic zone close to Lake Nasser for fishery investment which will be good for all the Nubians. Those people from Egypt are loyal to Egypt. They are described in a bad way but this is complete ignorance.

It is time for the revolution to be concrete reality. Every youth has to have an apartment or house and get it without waiting – 250,000 apartments will be built.

It's the right time to eliminate any exceptions, any favouritism, to achieve equality all over Egypt – no differences. Egyptians will be one before the law, one independent judiciary.

I renew my appreciation to the Egyptian voters of the first round. I am honoured for what you have done for me. I salute and appreciate every member of my campaign all over the country.

4.55pm: Here's a summary of the latest developments:

Egypt

• Egypt's political transition has been thrown into chaos by a court ruling which invalidates the recent parliamentary election where Islamists won a majority. The court ruled that the system for electing a third of the MPs was unconstitutional and its decision is being seen as a "soft coup" for the military.

• Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq has been cleared to contest this weekend's presidential run off against the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi. The court ruled that banning Shafiq as member of the former regime was unconstitutional. There was a heavy police presence outside the court as activists gathered to protest against the verdict. The Muslim Brotherhood said it accepted the verdict on Shafiq.

Syria

• The UK's foreign secretary William Hague has lobbied Russia to back a political transition in Syria. He met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a summit on Afghanistan. Hague signalled that Britain would not attend a Russia-proposed conference on Syria if Iran was invited.

• An army offensive in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor killed at least 11 people after the rebel Free Syrian Army destroyed at least one government tank. "Two rebels were among those killed. The rest of the casualties were mostly civilians," a hospital source told Reuters.

• UN monitors have been allowed to inspect the he north-west town of Haffeh, after government forces 'cleared' the area of 'terrorists'. They found the place deserted, after rebels fled the area.

• Amnesty International has documented fresh evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes being perpetrated as part of state policy, based on the more than 200 interviews with eyewitnesses, victims and their families. Donatella Rovera, who spent several weeks undercover in Syria conducting the research, urged the UN to take decisive action to stop attacks against civilians.

Bahrain

• Convictions against nine Bahraini doctors accused of playing leading roles in anti-government protests last year have been quashed and sentences against nine others downgraded by an appeals court. In a contentious ruling that follows widespread international condemnation of the medics' trials, one senior orthopedic surgeon, Ali al-Akri, still faces five years' imprisonment, while another, Ibrahim al-Dimistani, has been sentenced to three years.

12.40pm ET/5.40pm BST: Egypt: In his latest audio report, Abdel-Rahman Hussein points out that in the absence of parliament, legislative power reverts back to the military junta that has been ruling Egypt in the transition period.

Now it appears that the new president, to be elected in voting on Saturday and Sunday, will pledge his oath before the military council, according to a report on Al-Jadid TV. The original plan was for the president to take the oath before parliament.

Remember when Egypt was a military dictatorship headed by a former Air Force chief? Seems so far away!

— arabist (@arabist) June 14, 2012

12.56pm ET/5.56pm BST: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood has announced that a planned news conference by their presidential candidate, Mohammed Morsi, has been postponed indefinitely.

How off-balance did today's decision catch the Brotherhood? Suddenly the parliament they controlled has disappeared, and the legitimacy of their presidential candidate was called into question.

Some analysts argue the Brotherhood was prepared for just such turmoil and is now in behind-the-scenes negotiations with the SCAF to work out a power-sharing agreement.

But there are signs that the Brotherhood is indeed shaken, and defiant. Here's Financial Times Middle East correspondent Borzou Daraghi:

#Egypt: Brotherhood's Issam Erian warning that country will enter a "dark tunnel" if parliament is dissolved, state television reporting

— Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) June 14, 2012

1.18pm ET/6.18pm BST: Egypt: Widely followed Egypt analyst Nathan J. Brown writes in Foreign Policy that in issuing today's ruling, the Supreme Constitutional Court moved with highly unusual speed, and he speculates that the court felt threatened by parliament.

The upshot: "Democracy -- in the sense of majority rule with minority rights -- is now losing badly":

If the details are unclear, the overall effect is not. What was beginning to look like a coup in slow motion is no longer moving in slow motion. The rulings themselves are perfectly defensible. The SCC is diverse enough in its composition that it is not anybody's tool. (Faruq Sultan, the chief justice considered suspect by some because of his past ties with the military, recused himself from the Shafiq case). The SCC clearly felt threatened by recent parliamentary moves against the court, though I do not know how much that sense of threat influenced the justices. Therefore, I do not see this as what Egyptians call "telephone justice" -- in which a call from a high official to a judge decides a case.

But that may not matter in the long run. The dispersal of parliament, the sudden constitutional vacuum, the Shafiq surge, the reversion of state-owned media, the revival of a key element of the state of emergency by a decree from an unaccountable justice minister -- all these things point in one direction. Last March I wrote that, "unless the SCAF has the appetite for a second coup, or somehow discovers a way to shoehorn in its puppet as president, the constitutional vehicle that gave the military such political authority will soon turn into a pumpkin." Now it appears that the SCAF has regained its appetite and an old-regime candidate may soon win the presidency.

1.46pm ET/6.46pm BST: The Economist endorses Mohammed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate, for president of Egypt, declaring him the better of two bad choices.

The magazine calls the contest between Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq "a wretched choice." "If there were a decent secular candidate," the author continues, "we would vote for him. But Mr Shafiq, whose mantra is a call for stability and a crackdown on crime, would be a throwback to repression."

Fears that the Muslim Brotherhood would rule with intolerance and persecute minorities are overblown, the Economist writes:

Islamism in the Arab world now covers a wide spectrum; and its sensible end has fast been evolving from a radical, violent strain into a modern, outward-looking variant.... the Brothers have gone out of their way to shed intolerance and bigotry, espousing—at least on paper—rights for women and Christians, and promising not to close down bars on tourist beaches or ban the wearing of bikinis.

The magazine reasons that it's better to leap in a forward direction into the unknown than to fall backward:

If [Egyptians] opt for Mr Morsi and the Brothers, they face a future full of risks. But that is better than a return to the oppressive past under Mr Shafiq.

1.52pm ET/6.52pm BST: Lest there be any doubt, the presidential election will go forward this weekend as planned, the Supreme Coucil of the Armed Forces announces:

SCAF has just issued eagerly anticipated statement. Just one sentence. Elex to take place on time. Ok

— Samer Al-Atrush(@SameralAtrush) June 14, 2012

2.28pm ET/7.28pm BST: Egypt: Morsi is on local television talking about the dissolution of parliament and the presidential election. He is not dropping out of the race, as some suggested he might in protest. He denies that a military coup has taken place.

Several viewers have remarked upon Morsi's calm demeanor. He's not agitated. He's not acting like he believes the election has just been stolen. Egyptian journalist Nadia al-Majid is watching:

#MB #prescandidate #Morsi "I don't see what's going on as #militarycoup . . . I love the armed forces" #Egypt #DreamTV live now

— Nadia el-Magd ناديا (@Nadiaglory) June 14, 2012

2.52pm ET/7.52pm BST: Egypt: A highly befuddling tweet from the Muslim Brotherhood Twitter account just now: "Parliament is staying."

@LaurenBohn @elbaradei parliament is staying

— Ikhwanweb (@Ikhwanweb) June 14, 2012

We'll have a roundup of reactions. Here's one:

Kinda intriguing. RT @Ikhwanweb parliament is staying

— Tom Gara (@tomgara) June 14, 2012

2.54pm ET/7.54pm BST: Egypt: Reactions to the Brotherhood tweet "Parliament is staying":

Gauntlet thrown. RT @ikhwanweb: @LaurenBohn @ElBaradei parliament is staying

— Evan Hill (@evanchill) June 14, 2012

Or:

Delusional. RT @Ikhwanweb : @LaurenBohn @elbaradei parliament is staying

— Menna منّة(@TheMiinz) June 14, 2012

4.05pm ET/9.05pm BST: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood has not responded to requests for clarification of its tweet "parliament is staying."

In a television interview this afternoon Mohammed Morsi said he would respect the court ruling vacating the parliament – despite his "dissatisfaction" with the decision. "I respect the court's decision, in that I respect state institutions and the principle of the separation of powers," he said.

Morsi is scheduled to speak again at 11pm local time, in about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile Mohamed ElBaradei, the former presidential candidate and Nobel laureate, has stepped up his criticism of the court decisions, calling them "a travesty" minutes ago.

Electing president in the absence of constitution and parliament is electing an "emperor" with more powers than deposed dictator. A travesty

— Mohamed ElBaradei (@ElBaradei) June 14, 2012

4.15pm ET/9.15pm BST: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says there is "no going back" on Egypt's political transformation.

Clinton addressed the day's events in Egypt at a news conference in Washington with Korean officials.

"There can be no going back on the democratic transition called for by the Egyptian people," Clinton said. "Throughout this process, the United States has stood in support of the aspirations of the Egyptian people for a peaceful, credible and permanent democratic transition. In keeping with the commitments that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces made to the Egyptian people, we expect to see a full transfer of power to a democratically elected civilian government."

4.38pm ET/9.38pm BST: The Muslim Brotherhood appears not to accept the notion that the current parliament will necessarily be disbanded.

About four hours ago the group tweeted "parliament is staying." They have followed up with this explanation:

@LaurenBohnSupreme Court doesn't have the power to dissolve the parliament, it only decides on constitutionality of the laws

— Ikhwanweb (@Ikhwanweb) June 14, 2012

The idea apparently being that there is daylight between the method of election of the parliament (found unconstitutional today) and the legitimacy or viability of the parliament.

It is unclear whether the Brotherhood believes that there exists a power – the SCAF or otherwise – that can dissolve parliament.

5.00pm ET/10pm BST: Egypt: Mohammed Morsi is now speaking live on television, his second TV appearance of the day.

He is trying to claim the mantle of the revolution. "I announce the continuation of challenging the remnants of the old regime," Morsi says, quoted by Farah Saafan of the new Egypt Monocle.

He seems to have adopted a newly combative tone. Here's Time Magazine's Cairo correspondent:

Morsy (shouting) compares those plotting to undermine "the popular will" to a bone disease that they (the people) will wipe out. #Egypt

— Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) June 14, 2012

Morsi weighs the authority of the court against the authority of the people and finds the court wanting:

Morsy: The will of the people is above everything and above the constitution & all the rulings. The will of the ppl will prevail. #Egypt

— Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) June 14, 2012

Morsi has shifted his tone 180 degrees from his earlier appearance:

Morsi's rhetoric is VERY aggressive

— Farah Saafan (@FarahSaafan) June 14, 2012

5.15pm ET/10.15pm BST: Morsi says that "if there is as much as one report of elections rigging... the outcome is well known...a massive revolution against the criminals," Farah Saafan writes.

Morsi's first reaction to today's rulings was to say that he respects the court's decisions and loves the military.

Now Morsi is saying that court rulings are meaningless if they are not backed by the will of the people and warning that perceived improprieties in the election this weekend would throw the country back into chaos.

Morsi did not specifically address the idea that the parliament might not actually be disbanded because the court doesn't have the power to disband it.

But he shows that the Brotherhood does consider today's rulings to be a serious provocation.

Morsi in one sentence: EITHER I WIN OR REVOLUTION REKINDLED.

— Mostafa Hussein (@moftasa) June 14, 2012

6.00pm ET/11.00pm BST: We're going to wrap up today's Middle East live blog coverage. Here's a summary of the latest developments:

Egypt

• Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi, breaking into fits of yelling in a live TV appearance, warned that any cheating in the election this weekend would relaunch mass demonstrations. Earlier he said he accepted a court decision finding the current parliament to be illegitimate.

• The disposition of parliament is unclear. The Brotherhood stated "parliament is staying," and some legislators vowed to continue to meet, in direct contravention of the court decision.

• Morsi sought to claim the mantle of the revolution, saying that a victory in the elections by the remnants of the regime – i.e. his opponent, Ahmed Shafiq – would betray those who died deposing Mubarak. Morsi said he would give his life for the revolution.

• Shafiq made a speech of his own, promising to restore "security" if elected and saying "I am ready to co-operate with everyone. ... No opposition will be hurt."

• Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei warned that electing a president without having a parliament or a constitution in place would be tantamount to annointing an "emperor." He called the prospect of the elections going ahead "a travesty."

• The ruling Superior Council of the Armed Forces announced that the elections would proceed as planned.

Syria and Bahrain

For a summary of earlier developments in Syria and Bahrain, click here.

Military graves desecrated in Benghazi in second such attack in four months

Headstones on second world war military graves in Libya's eastern city of Benghazi have been desecrated again, in the second such attack in four months.

Khaled Al-Jazwi, a spokesman for the Benghazi local council, said the attack occurred on Thursday.

"We don't know yet who did this," said Jazwi. "We have spoken to the local council's security committee about investigating who is behind this. This cemetery has been here for decades and nothing like this has ever happened before."

Earlier this year, Libya's leadership apologised after armed men in Benghazi smashed the graves of British and Italian troops killed during the second world war.

In February, amateur video footage posted on Facebook showed men casually kicking over headstones in a war cemetery and using sledgehammers to smash a metal and stone cross.

Benghazi is near where British and Commonwealth troops fought heavy battles against German and Italian forces during the 1939-45 war.

The city was the starting point of the uprising last year that later ended Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule, but it is now a hotspot for violence, with arms readily available and state security forces struggling to assert their authority.

A convoy carrying Britain's ambassador to Libya was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade on Monday, wounding two of his bodyguards.

Five days before that, an explosive device was dropped from a passing car outside the offices of the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi. The blast that followed slightly damaged the gate in front of the building.

Earlier attacks targeted the International Committee of the Red Cross and a convoy carrying the United Nations envoy to Libya.

Security experts say the area around the city is host to a number of Islamist militant groups opposed to any western presence in Muslim countries.

Bob Carr to intervene in crisis over arrest of ICC officials accused of passing information to Gaddafi's son

The Australian foreign minister, Bob Carr, is heading to Libya to intervene in the spiralling crisis over the arrest last week of international criminal court officials who were visiting the son of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The four officials, including ICC public defender Melinda Taylor, an Australian, are accused by Libya of trying to pass unauthorised information to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is being held prisoner in the mountain town of Zintan.

Carr's visit comes after Nato, the United Nations security council and the ICC itself called for the release of the officials, who were travelling under the protection of diplomatic immunity.

But Libyan prosecutors claim Taylor was seeking to pass documents unrelated to the case to Saif, allegedly supplied by a friend of Saif's who has fled Libya to Cairo.

On the eve of his visit, Carr said: "We will press the case that Ms Taylor is in Libya under the mandate of the ICC and United Nations security council, and this mandate provides a legal immunity."

The crisis is threatening to overshadow Libya's preparations for national elections due to be held on 7 July, with the security council on Friday expressing serious concern over the arrest.

Libya insists it will hold Taylor for 45 days while prosecutors launch an investigation.

At the centre of the crisis are claims, yet to be substantiated, that Taylor was acting outside her mandate in passing documents not related to the ICC case to Gaddafi. If true – and no evidence has yet been made public – this would constitute a serious breach of court rules.

Saif, 39, is wanted by the ICC for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was arrested by Zintan militia forces in November and remains under arrest in a boarded-up villa in the town.

Libya wants Saif tried in Libya, not The Hague, and has hired high-profile British human rights lawyer Philippe Sands to make its case to the ICC.

Libya's relationship with the ICC is rocky. Tripoli has refused demands from both the court and human rights groups for Saif to have contact with lawyers and family.

Documents released by the ICC record that Libyan authorities told Taylor during her last visit in March that Tripoli was investigating Saif not for war crimes but because "he allegedly did not have a licence for two camels".

Melinda Taylor is being interrogated over claims documents were passed to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, says government spokesman

Libyan prime minister Abdulrahim el-Keib said on Thursday that the international criminal court lawyer detained by security forces was guilty of actions that "compromised national security" and would not be released.

Melinda Taylor, an Australian ICC official, was arrested in the mountain town of Zintan on 7 June after meeting the indicted war crimes suspect Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, who is being held by the town's militia.

Keib, speaking at a hastily arranged press conference in Tripoli, said: "During the meeting with the defendant [Saif], the defendant Melinda Taylor handed over to the accused some documents and papers which compromise the national security of Libya.

"These documents have nothing to do with the ICC mission. The ICC should guarantee the professional morality and ethics of those sent to Libya."

Keib's statement indicates that Taylor can expect a lengthy period of detention, with the Libyan prime minister saying the documents, which he did not specify, constitute "an offence punishable by the Libyan regulations."

Tripoli said on Wednesday night that Taylor, one of four ICC officers who were on an official visit to Libya, had tried to deliver documents to Saif that were not part of her work for the court.

"An interrogation of them is under way," said Libyan government spokesman Nassar el-Manee. "There is evidence that proves they have breached the law."

The decision comes after the Australian foreign minister, Robert Carr, met Keib, earlier this week, announcing a hope that Taylor would be released if the ICC issued an apology.

Manee said such an apology would not prevent a criminal case being launched. "They [the ICC] should say: 'We have made a mistake,'" said Manee. "When the interrogation is complete we will explain everything."

Taylor's three colleagues – a Lebanese translator, Russian diplomat and Spanish legal expert – have been told they are free to leave Zintan but have elected to stay with Taylor.

The arrest of Taylor is spiralling into the most serious crisis in the ICC's 10-year history. Never before has one of its officials been arrested and held in detention.

The ICC spokesman Fadi el-Abdallah told the Guardian on Thursday that the court was negotiating with the Libyan government, and that Taylor was being held in Zintan incommunicado, with ICC lawyers having been allowed only one visit to her, on 12 June.

"She has immunity like all delegation members," he said. "Libya has the obligation to fully respect obligations in resolution 1970 by the [UN] security council."

Carr said earlier this week that Tripoli would be likely to release Taylor if the ICC agreed that Saif could be tried in Libya, rather than The Hague.

But ICC judges can make such a decision only if they are satisfied that Libya, struggling to rebuild a shattered country after last year's civil war, can guarantee Saif a fair trial with a fully functioning legal system.

Juma Obaidi al-Jazawi, accused of involvement in death of rebel commander last year, is killed as he leaves mosque

A high-profile military prosecutor has been killed in Libya's eastern capital, Benghazi, which has seen a spate of bombings and attacks in recent weeks.

Juma Obaidi al-Jazawi, a military prosecutor blamed by some for involvement in the killing of the commander-in-chief of Libya's rebel forces last year, was shot dead as he left a city mosque.

Last July Jazawi signed an order for the arrest of the former commander Abdul Fatah Younes. Hours after Younes was arrested, separated from his bodyguards and taken to Benghazi for questioning, his burned, bullet-riddled body was found dumped in the town.

Jazawi has never explained the reason he ordered the arrest of Younes, and the authorities have yet to solve the case. His killing comes as Benghazi suffers an escalating campaign of violence that the government seems powerless to stop.

Last week an anti-tank rocket struck the convoy carrying the British ambassador, Dominic Asquith, in the town, wounding two security guards. That attack followed the bombing of the US consulate and the Red Cross headquarters in the town, and came after rocket attacks on a UN convoy and the destruction of 200 war graves, apparently by jihadists, in two Commonwealth cemeteries.

Last week one of the cemeteries was again vandalised and jihadists attacked the Tunisian consulate in Benghazi, reportedly as a protest at an exhibition of art in Tunisia that they deemed blasphemous.

Of most concern to foreign diplomats is the rocket attack on the British convoy because it took place 300 yards from the British consulate, in an area supposedly patrolled by the Libyan interior ministry's gendarmerie, the special security committee. It is unclear how the attackers could lie in wait to launch an ambush without attracting attention.

The presence of jihadists in the town caused a mass confrontation last week when armed jeeps bearing black al-Qaida flags massed in the town centre. They were confronted by thousands of young people, summoned by a Facebook appeal, chanting pro-Libya and pro-democracy slogans, whose weight of numbers forced the armed units from the courthouse square.

This violence has spurred calls from many ordinary Benghazians for the newly elected city authorities to assume policing powers from a central government viewed as powerless to halt the violence.

Globally, the application of the rule of law is patchy. Let's take the opportunity to address this

The current arrest in Libya of four officials of the international criminal court is quite clearly a violation of international law. The four were in Libya to meet with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the former Libyan leader, who has been charged with war crimes as a result of an investigation instigated at the request of the UN security council.

Libya is bound by that resolution and obliged thereby to cooperate with the court; its actions clearly violate the international rule of law. Talk of securing a "deal" for the release of the four risks compromising the global authority of the court, which is backed by the full authority of the UN and the international community.

What is effectively an act of kidnapping also regrettably demonstrates that there is as yet no rule of law in Libya domestically. Ultimately, what has happened has justified the insistence by the ICC that Saif should be tried in The Hague.

The ICC's Libyan crisis is a good example of the patchwork nature of the rule of law globally. While the court itself represents the best aspirations of the international community, events on the ground in a troubled state have been dictated not by law, but by the power of the gun and local political interests.

Contrast the recent positive example of the rule of law in action in Malawi. The government there has refused to invite President al-Bashir of Sudan to attend a planned summit meeting of the African Union, citing the arrest warrant in his name issued by the ICC over the situation in Darfur. To their discredit, the AU leaders are not prepared to hold the summit without al-Bashir and have moved it to Addis Ababa. Malawi is clearly acting in accordance with its international treaty obligations, and the rule of law. The African Union is not.

So what is to be done to encourage nations to be more consistent in developing this most important principle? World leaders have an opportunity to make progress this September, when they gather at the UN general assembly in New York, with the topic of the rule of law up for discussion at a parallel UN conference.

Sceptics will argue that these discussions will be theoretical and pointless. Surely might, not right, determines what happens in the world? But since the 19th century, the rule of law has been making, and continues to make, steady gains. At the national level the rule of law has become accepted as the bedrock of democracy. A state can be considered a democracy only if all people and organisations within it are subject only to laws of general application and those laws are applied fairly and equally by open and independent courts. Whether a state is recognised as a democracy depends on its adherence to the rule of law.

Internationally, too, states are judged by the extent to which they adhere to their obligations under international law, which is by no means confined to criminal law. There is no shortage of international laws that touch on many aspects of our lives that are universally respected and applied. There are the laws that control civil aviation, laws relating to posts and telecommunications, the law of the sea and laws of international trade.

And, of course, the rapid growth of literally hundreds of treaties on aspects of international criminal law that have nothing to do with the commission of war crimes - drug trafficking, trafficking in people, extradition, refugees, and terrorism. In global trade, the World Trade Organisation has become a widely used judicial institution that rules on alleged violations of trade agreements. Its rulings are almost invariably respected and its orders carried out.

This growing recognition of the rule of law at the international level is a natural consequence of our fast contracting world. States have become more dependent than ever upon each other.

This September's meeting in New York provides an opportunity to advance the cause of the rule of law – by placing it at the center of the world's agenda as it faces turmoil in regions of rapid transition and regions battling to avoid economic chaos. The recognition and application of the rule of law would add a measure of stability and security. Leaders of all nations should ensure that the conference leads to an emphatic and unanimous position that the rule of law is essential for peace, development and stability in the 21st century.

A minimum outcome should include the adoption of rule of law goals for UN members, such as ensuring effective separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, guaranteeing an independent judiciary with all people being subject to the law; entrenching rights protecting minorities; and at the global level, tracking the extent to which states act in accordance with their international law obligations.

Such goals can be achieved over the coming years with the opportunity for periodic reviews of the progress toward meeting them. A mere statement of good intentions is not enough.

Richard Goldstone is co-chair of the Rule of Law Action Group of the International Bar Association and former chief prosecutor of the UN criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

• Muslim Brotherhood calls for a national government
• Egyptian military stands by power grab
• Claims that Turkish warplane was shot down by Syria

• Read the latest summary

5.03pm: Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Egypt

• Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate, has called on the military to transfer power to a national government (see 3.24pm).

• Latest reports say the election result will be officially announced tomorrow. The ruling military council has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for raising tensions by releasing election results early.

• Tens of thousands of Egyptians have converged on Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest against the ruling military council's power grab.

Syria

• The bodies of more than 25 men have been found in Aleppo province. Opposition sources suggest they were pro-Assad shabiha militiamen, while the government says they were citizens kidnapped by armed terrorist groups.

• A Turkish warplane is reported to have crashed in Syrian territorial waters. There are claims that the aircraft was shot down by Syria, that Syria has since apologised, and that the two crew have been rescued, though none of that can be confirmed at present.

• General Mowaffak Joumaa, head of Syria's Olympic committee, has been refused entry to the UK for the London games because of his links to President Assad and the Syrian military, the BBC reports.

• US defence secretary Leon Panetta has implicitly acknowledged that some countries are providing lethal aid to the Syrian opposition (see 11.02am)

Libya

• Libyan prime minister Abdulrahim el-Keib says the detained International Criminal Court lawyer Melinda Taylor is guilty of actions that "compromised national security" and will not be released. She was arrested with three other ICC officers earlier this month after meeting the indicted war crimes suspect Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

4.54pm: Syria: Here is a full transcript of Kofi Annan's opening remarks at the press conference in Geneva this afternoon:

It has been a long time that I haven't been back in this room but it is good to meet you here this afternoon. And I am happy to be able to join you this afternoon with General Mood whom you all know. I am pleased that he could join us. He is on his way back from New York to Syria.

As you would all remember, about a week ago, General Mood had to take a difficult decision when he decided temporarily to suspend the activities of the UN mission in Syria due to the escalation of violence. And I must say I supported that decision fully.

UN observers, as we all know, are in Syria to help the Syrian people at this critical hour. In the short time that they have been there, they have engaged not just with the parties, but with communities at all levels of society in the cities and towns where they have been deployed. They are keen to resume their work. Their commitment to the Syrian people has not faltered. But the circumstances must allow them to do their work. And we all know that they are unarmed men and women who are doing courageous work.

This can only happen when the protagonists on the ground take the strategic decision to stop the violence and to cooperate fully with the observers.

I urge all parties to heed the call for a cessation of violence in all its forms, first and foremost for the sake of the Syrian people, the children and women in particular. I think they have suffered for far too long and continue to suffer.

But if our efforts are to succeed, we shall need the united and sustained support of the international community. This is essential.

And that is why over the last few days, I have been in intensive consultations with a number of ministers and officials in capitals around the world about the possibility of convening a meeting of ministers to discuss what further actions could be taken to implement the security council resolutions.

It is time for countries of influence to raise the level of pressure on the parties on the ground, and to persuade them that it is in their interest to stop the killing and start talking.

When I briefed the security council, last time, actually earlier this month, I said: as we move forward, we should keep our goals firmly in view: to stop the killing, help the suffering population, secure a political transition, and ensure that the crisis does not spread to the neighbours.

The longer we wait, the darker Syria's future becomes. This process cannot be open-ended. It is urgent that our consultations yield real results soon. Otherwise, I fear we are reaching the day when it will be too late to stop the crisis from spiraling out of control.

The time to act is now.

4.50pm: Syria/Turkey: Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has arrived back in Turkey from Brazil and is expected to give a news conference in an hour or two. Hopefully, this will cast more light on the Turkish warplane which is reported to have crashed earlier today in Syrian territorial waters.

There are claims that the aircraft was shot down by Syria, that Syria has since apologised, and that the two crew have been rescued. None of that can be confirmed at present.

So far, there has been no public comment from the Syrian government and there are suggestions that neither Syria nor Turkey has much desire to turn the affair into a major confrontation.

4.25pm: Egypt: Here's a fuller version of Morsi speech:

The key points are:

• Accepting the ruling of the constitutional court
• Rejecting the dissolution of parliament
• Promising to appoint a government of national unity, if election confirmed
• Claiming to have 'no dispute with Scaf'
• Rejecting violent protest

Speaking through an al-Jazeera translator he said:

This wide spectrum that has come together today must discuss what to do at this critical moment. We held talks until 2am. Discussion was rich and comprehensive, cooperative. We all agreed on the key goals of the revolution: stability, security, democracy, freedom and the transition of power to an elected civilian authority.

We are waiting for the official results of the elections. What we disclosed before, were the tallies of election counts, as signed by judges. The results are already known and we cannot allow anyone to tamper with the results.

We wait to see if the official results are expressive of the free will of the people.

We respect the ruling of the constitutional court, however the resolution to dissolve the parliament is unacceptable. We do not accept the supplementary constitutional declaration handed down by the armed forces on Sunday.

All these rulings give rise to grave concerns to all of us.

If the president is from the Freedom and Justice Party, the vice president will not be from the party. My vice-presidents and deputies could be women, Christians, youth activists or even former presidential candidates.

The government will be a national unity government, representative of all spectrums of politics. I have been holding discussions about the prime minister designate and have found out that there are many suitable candidates. The prime minister designate will be announced soon.

This front represents the unity of all the political forces in Egypt.

We will continue to peacefully demonstrate. There were false reports that we were planning violence. We reject and denounce violence.

We have no problem with the judiciary. We may differ in our views with some judges. However we respect and honour the judiciary.

We have no problem or difference with the armed forces. They are the people of Egypt. Resolutions handed down by the armed forces may be right or wrong. However we have no dispute with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. They are honest Egyptian men. They are working for the better of Egypt.

We come together for the greater good for the supreme interest's of Egypt. If I am at the forefront of this united front, it will not sideline the others.

3.39pm: Syria: More from the press conference in Geneva. Gen Mood said:

Despite multiple efforts, civilians continue to be trapped in the line of fire. This is unacceptable by any standards.

All parties must abide by the obligation to keep civilians out of harm's way and it is the government that has primary responsibility.

What we are seeing is a level of destruction that begs rebuilding and reconstruction beyond the usual classification of humanitarian aid.

He said a lot of stakeholders in the conflict were "trying to buy time" – adding that he was referring to the situation on the ground.

Kofi Annan, who was also at the press conference, said it is time for countries with influence to raise the level of pressure on Syria and rebel groups to end violence in the country.

He said time is running out to implement his six-point plan for Syria, and he has invited world powers to meet in Geneva to discuss it on June 30 – though it is still uncertain whether the meeting will go ahead and details won't be finalised until next week.

Annan also reiterated his view that "Iran should be part of the solution" for bringing peace to Syria.

3.24pm: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohamed Morsi has called on the military to transfer power to a national government.

After discussions with leading politicians he said: "We all agreed on the supreme goals of the revolution: stability, security, freedom and the transfer of power from military to civilian rule."

He vowed that the protests will continue until the results of the election are announced. "We will continue to protest for the welfare and stability of Egypt," he said.

He added: "We respect the ruling of the courts, but we reject the military council's decision to dissolve parliament. We do not accept the new constitutional declarations to limit the power of the president."

He said if he was elected he would form a broad-based national government. He said there were many suitable figures for prime minister.

3.19pm: Syria: At a press conference in Geneva, Maj-Gen Robert Mood, head of the UN monitoring mission in Syria, said the are now mainly in their team sites or at headquarters.

"This doesn't mean they are doing nothing. From team sites they have views of the surrounding areas." Some of them are also in contact with hospitals and making telephone calls.

Gen Mood added that patrolling and exploring new areas is "not on the agenda", though as the monitors' mandate does not expire until 20 July they hope to "continue mandated tasks as soon as the situation allows".

On the question of sending more observers or arming them, Mood said: "I am far from convinced that would help the situation on the ground." He added that it is not always comfortable to be unarmed in such a situation but "it is our main source of strength".

2.51pm: Syria/Turkey: More on the Turkish warplane that is said to have crashed in Syrian territorial waters.

The pro-Iranian al-Mayadeen television station, based in Lebanon and citing Turkish sources, says it was shot down by Syrian air defences near the border with Turkey. There is no confirmation of that report.

Hurriyet (in Turkish) is reporting that the crew have now been found alive.

The Turkish state news agency Anatolia says the aircraft was an F-4 with two crew on board.

The F-4 is a two-seater twin-engined supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft.

2.45pm: Egypt: No word yet on the Morsi press conference. But a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Beltagy, has confirmed that the Nobel laureate, Mohamed ElBaradei, and the Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, who came fourth in the presidential election are backing a national coalition against the military.

"We will state that our power is in our unity and that we will not accept a coup aginst democracy," Beltagy is quoted as saying by the Egyptian news site Aswat Masriya.

2.33pm: Syria/Turkey: A Turkish warplane crashed in Syrian territorial waters this morning, Doğan news agency has reported.

Search and rescue teams are waiting for Syrian authorities to issue necessary permits to locate the plane. Mediterranean naval units are now approaching the area.

The plane left the eastern province of Malatya at around 10am, while the connection was lost at around noon.

2.29pm: Egypt: The guest list at Morsi's press conference is impressive and intriguing.

"President" #Morsi and revolutionary figures (Alaa Al Aswany,Hamdi Qandil,Wael Ghonim,Ahmed Maher) will hold a presser ALL together...weird!

— Francesca Cicardi (@FraCicardi) June 22, 2012

#Egypt: FJParty says Abol Fotouh is attending Morsi's presser and Baradei is sending a representative

— Alaa Bayoumi (@Alaabayoumi) June 22, 2012

2.26pm: Syria: In a comment on the video of bodies found in Aleppo province (see 12.47pm), EA WorldView blog suggests that the dead were indeed pro-Assad shabiha militiamen:

The truck on the roadside looks like a typical shabiha truck, but there are far too many bodies for them to have all come from a single vehicle.

It's likely that Sana's account of the event is fairly accurate, though it's not likely that these men were civilians. From the look of their clothes (dark colours, some bodies have a mix of military uniform and civilian clothes) it's likely that these men were, indeed, shabiha, as the video claims.

Bassem Mroue of the Associated Press adds:

It was not clear whether the men were killed execution-style or died in clashes. An activist in the area, Mohammed Saeed, said rebels regularly collect the bodies of the dead from the government side and dump them by the side of the road so troops can come and collect them later.

2.09pm: Egypt: Shafiq or Morsi? Saturday or Sunday? Take your pick.

Breaking...Al Jazzera Mubasher Misr now reporting that presidential elections result will be tomorrow, Saturday.

— Ranya Khalifa (@RanyaKhalifa) June 22, 2012

This warrants capslock "BREAKING": Govt sources tell @ahramonline SPEC will announce Shafiq winner on Sunday: english.ahram.org.eg/News/45876.aspx #Egypt

— Ghazala Irshad (@ghazalairshad) June 22, 2012

2.03pm: Egypt: Tahrir square is pretty full now.

The Twitter user @kikhote is publishing regular images of video of turnout in the square today.

Audio journalist tweets this snippet:

Some dudes started throwing stuff at a bbc camera crew because they thought they were from Egyptian state TV. All settled down though.

— Matthew Bell (@matthewjbell) June 22, 2012

1.21pm: Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Egypt

• The ruling military council has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for raising tensions by releasing election results early. The council says announcing the results before an official statement was "unjustified" and is the main reason behind the confusion and divisions plaguing the political situation.

• Tens of thousands of Egyptians have converged on Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest against the ruling military council's power grab. Besides the Muslim Brotherhood, several other parties and revolutionary groups are supporting the protests including the Salafist al-Nour party, the April 6th Movement, and the Revolutionary Socialists.

• The election authorities are considering re-running elections in more than 100 polling station, according to Ahram Online.

Syria

• The bodies of more than 25 men have been found in Aleppo province. Opposition sources suggest they were pro-Assad shabiha militiamen, while the government says they were citizens kidnapped by armed terrorist groups.

• General Mowaffak Joumaa, head of Syria's Olympic committee, has been refused entry to the UK for the London games because of his links to President Assad and the Syrian military, the BBC reports.

• US defence secretary Leon Panetta has implicitly acknowledged that some countries are providing lethal aid to the Syrian opposition. He said the US had "made a decision not to provide lethal assistance at this point" but added: "I know others have made their own decisions" (see 11.02am)

• Members of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle are making plans to defect to the opposition should the Syrian regime become critically threatened by the rebellion, a US official told the Telegraph. "We are seeing members of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle make plans to leave," the official said.

Libya

• Libyan prime minister Abdulrahim el-Keib says the detained International Criminal Court lawyer Melinda Taylor is guilty of actions that "compromised national security" and will not be released. She was arrested with three other ICC officers earlier this month after meeting the indicted war crimes suspect Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

1.17pm: Egypt: Reuters has a fuller report on Scaf's statement:

Egypt's ruling military council criticised the two presidential candidates for making premature claims of victory on Friday and said it would stand by a decree limiting the new president's powers, which many see as prolonging military rule.

As thousands of mainly Islamist protesters gathered for weekly prayers on Cairo's Tahrir Square, the army said people were free to protest as long as they did not disrupt daily life but flatly rejected their demands that it rescind the dissolution of parliament and an order giving itself more power.

The move was justified "during this critical period" for the good of the country, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Criticising the candidates, though not by name, it said: "Anticipating the announcement of the presidential election results before they are announced officially is unjustifiable and is one of the main causes of division and confusion prevailing the political arena."

Responding to complaints, the council said in its statement: "The issuance of the supplementary constitutional decree was necessitated by the needs of administering the affairs of the state during this critical period in the history of our nation."

"The rule of law is the basis of governance in the state," it said. "The state shall be subject to the law and independent judiciary, whose independence and immunity are two basic guarantees to safeguard rights and freedoms.

1.13pm: Egypt: The ruling military council has blamed the Muslim Brotherhood for raising tensions in the country by releasing election results early, AP reports.

The military council says announcing the results before an official statement was "unjustified" and is the main reason behind the confusion and divisions plaguing the political situation.

Scaf also confirmed the dissolution of parliament, according to reports.

Summary#SCAF statement: Dissolution of parliament will not be revoked, constitutional declaration stays, and we'll use force when needed.

— Menna منّة(@TheMiinz) June 22, 2012

1.07pm: Egypt: The mood in Tahrir is very defiant, Abdel-Rahman Hussein reports from Cairo.

The Muslim Brotherhood have upped the ante. Even before the Friday noon prayers Tahrir Square was full. It is almost like the original 18 days in that respect. They are keeping up the pressure until the election results are announced.

No one can fill up the square with these numbers accept the Muslim Brotherhood, and the other Islamist blocs. But other revolutionary are coming out too.

This a message from the Muslim Brotherhood, that 'we are keeping up the pressure until we get something'. It is a negotiating ploy. They have the numbers to do this. They are going to keep people there at least until the results are announced. They have a lot at stake right now, and it really is squeaky bum time for the Muslim Brotherhood. The next few days are decisive for their future.

If there is internal dissent within the Brotherhood it is behind closed doors. They are putting up a united front.

Abdu speculates that the Brotherhood is in negotiate with the military over the future of presidency and the parliament. But he added:

More important is the constitution. That's really what the fight is about, that's really what concerns the military council. They don't want the constitution to be monopolised by Islamist forces, which was the case up until the dissolution of parliament.

Former prime minster Ahmed Shafiq was very "cocksure and confident" that he had won the race in yesterday's press conference, Abdu said.

Hillary Clinton's criticism of revolutionaries will be ignored in Cairo, Abdu added:

Comments from US officials have had very little bearing on the situation in Egypt anymore. This military is backed to the tune of $1.3bn a year by the US. This military is most at fault for the impasse we are in. They are pulling the rug from democracy in Egypt. They are doing it with the tacit blessing of the US, so US officials are not ones to talk.

12.47pm: Syria: Twenty-six men believed to be pro-government shabiha have been killed in Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

A very gruesome video posted on YouTube shows a number of bodies covered in blood and piled on top of each other at the side of a road. Some are in army fatigues and others in civilian clothes.

The government news agency Sana also has a report which is thought to refer to the same incident:

Armed terrorist groups on Friday kidnapped a number of citizens in Daret Azzeh area in the countryside of Aleppo, according to oficial sources in the province.

The sources later confirmed that the terrorist groups in Daret Azzeh committed a brutal massacre against the citizens, whom they had kidnapped earlier on the day, through shooting them dead and then mutilating their bodies.

The sources added that initial information indicates that more than 25 of the kidnapped citizens were killed in Daret Azzeh massacre, with the fate of the rest of the kidnapped people is still unknown.

12.12pm: Egypt: The military council's statement has been put back to 1.30pm (12.30pm BST) amid speculation about what it may contain.

Journalist Alaa Bayoumi tweets:

Expected statement by #SCAF to call on people to protect security, stability of the country, and warn against chaos. #Egypt

— Alaa Bayoumi (@Alaabayoumi) June 22, 2012

#SCAF statement to also will call on all #Egyptians to support legitimate president selected by the people.

— Alaa Bayoumi (@Alaabayoumi) June 22, 2012

12.08pm: Egypt: Tens of thousands of Egyptians have converged on Tahrir Square in Cairo to protest against the ruling military council's power grab, AP reports.

The cleric leading the prayers said Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential candidate, was the clear winner in the election.

Protesters chanted against the military council, which issued a declaration last week stripping the next president of much of his authority.

Here's one of the latest images from the scene.

11.41am: Egypt: The election authorities are considering re-running elections in more than 100 polling station, according to Ahram Online.

But its sources claim that the Supreme Presidential Elections Committee's figures show that Morsi was the winner of last weekend's runoff.

Sources also confirmed that Morsi got more votes in SPEC's count: which, they suggest, would not be reversed even if disputed votes are discounted. The only way Morsi's win could be reversed, they say, is if re-elections are held in disputed polling stations. Excluding whole stations from the results would affect both candidates which would still leave Mursi still in the lead.

11.25am: Syria: There have been expectations for some time that General Mowaffak Joumaa, head of Syria's Olympic committee, would be refused entry to the UK for the London games on the grounds of his links to President Assad and the Syrian military.

Now, though, it appears to be official. Jon Wiliams of the BBC tweets:

Gen. Mowaffak Journa refused visa to attend #Olympics because of "close links to Assad regime". IOC will be informed later today #Syria

— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) June 22, 2012

11.06am: Egypt: Tens of thousands of people have now gathered in Tahrir Square according to the latest reports and images.

Radio journalist Matthew Bell captures some of the sounds of the protests.

The ruling generals are preparing to issue a statement, according to reports.

SCAF to issue a statement at 1 pm #Egypt

— Zeinobia (@Zeinobia) June 22, 2012

Al Jazeera: SCAF to issue statement today warning against creating chaos #Egypt

— Sultan Al Qassemi (@SultanAlQassemi) June 22, 2012

11.02am: Syria: US defence secretary Leon Panetta (left) has implicitly acknowledged that some countries are providing lethal aid to the Syrian opposition.

In an interview yesterday, he said the US had "made a decision not to provide lethal assistance at this point" but added: "I know others have made their own decisions."

While insisting that "it's very important right now that everybody focus on a smooth and responsible political transition," he also appeared not to rule out US provision of lethal assistance in the future.

Yesterday, it was reported that CIA officers in Turkey are "helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms".

So far, Gulf states have not specifically said they are arming the opposition. Last April they said they would channel funds to the Syrian National Council to pay fighters in the Free Syrian Army and those who dared to defect from the Assad regime.

10.45am: Egypt: The Muslim Brotherhood has urged Ahmed Shafiq to concede defeat in the presidential election.

Essam el-Erian, vice-chairman of Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said the sit-in in Tahrir Square would continue until parliament is reinstated.

In an interview with al-Jazeera he said: "The parliament was elected by the will of the people, and the will of the people must be respected. On the other hand, the constitutional court ruling does not mean the dissolution of parliament. Therefore, we're saying 'We are in liberty square, until parliament returns'. The court's ruling is limited to individual seats only. Parliament is quite capable of dealing with this decision."

Mukhtar Ashri, chairman of the FJP's legal committee, urged the election commission to announce the results today.

Shafiq is in no mood to concede. "I am confident I'll be the rightful winnerr. And d wait for word the election commission," he said at a press conference last night.

10.29am: Egypt: Protests are under way but this is not a new revolution, argues Cairo-based analyst Eric Trager from the Washington Institute.

The youth activists are likely to overreach: They will overstate their public support, make their demands too high, push for them too hard, and - sadly - be targeted for the most violent response.

The Brotherhood, on the other hand, may already be hedging its bets: It is reportedly negotiating with the SCAF. So despite the Brotherhood's talk about "completing the revolution," it could back down at any moment - presumably, as long as it's given the share of power it has long sought ....

The protests are not affecting anything beyond Tahrir Square, and there is a large segment of the Egyptian public that opposes them - at least in form, if not in substance. The next stage of Egypt's post-Mubarak transition will thus likely be a sustained confrontation between the Scaf on one hand and an uncomfortable coalition of revolutionary youth activists and Islamists on the other. There may be moments of intense violence, and others of negotiated calm. But unless these demonstrations are capable of capturing the broader public, they will likely be a much more contained affair than last year's revolution.

10.17am: Syria/Israel: A Syrian man has been detained by Israeli forces after crossing the fence into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, al-Jazeera reports.

It appears that the man is currently being treated as "an infiltrator" rather than a refugee from the Assad regime. Ynetnews says:

Sources in the defence establishment said this is not the first time this year that a Syrian citizen tries to infiltrate Israel via the Golan Heights.

Defence officials recently estimated that clashes in Syria could spill over to the border area and conjectured that Syrians may seek refuge in Israel.

10.11am: Syria: The number of people needing humanitarian assistance has risen to 1.5m from the previous estimate of 1m, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today.

The World Food Programme had distributed food to 461,000 Syrians by mid-June and aims to increase that number to 850,000 in July, officials said.

Robert Watkins, UN Development Programme representative in neighbouring Lebanon, told Reuters:

Increasing violence has made it extremely difficult to establish the field presence so important for ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid. Humanitarian deliveries do continue, however, though not at the pace we had hoped and as required by the needs.

10.00am: Egypt: The Economist calls on the US to use its sizeable military subsidy as leverage to persuade the military council to hand over power.

The generals thrive on American aid and are plainly nervous about seizing untrammelled power. By pressing them to negotiate with Morsi over a constitution to provide for a new parliament, the United States and Europe could tip the balance in democracy's favour.

In her interview with Charlie Rose, Hillary Clinton hinted that the US did not want to scupper Egypt's peace treaty with Israel by pushing the generals too hard.

The military has to assume an appropriate role, which is not to try to interfere with, dominate, or subvert the constitutional authority. They have to get a constitution written. There's a lot of work ahead of them.

We also believe it is very much in Egypt's interest, while they're facing political turmoil and economic difficulties, to honour the peace treaty with Israel. The last thing they need is to make a decision that would undermine their stability. And furthermore, we think it's important that they reassert law and order over the Sinai, which is becoming a large, lawless area, and that they take seriously the internal threats from extremists and terrorists. So they have a lot ahead of them.

9.50am: Egypt: The BBC has a useful guide to what happens next if Shafiq or Morsi wins the election. Here's a summary version, including an intriguing third option:

If Shafiq wins

The Brotherhood will take advantage of the enmity the revolutionaries have towards the military rulers, whom it suspects of wanting to remain in power with Mr Shafiq as their front man.

There are fears that the situation could turn violent, like in Algeria where an estimated 150,000 people died in the years after the 1992 elections were scrapped when it became clear that the Islamists had won.

However, the Brotherhood has been trying to play down this scenario.

If Morsi wins

While there may not be a major reaction to a Morsi victory on the streets, there is likely to be a confrontation at a different level: between Mr Mursi and what is now called the "deep state".

The army has already secured complete control over its own affairs, limited the president's powers and ensured a future role in drafting the new constitution.

A third scenario

Although people are expecting an imminent announcement of the election result, an unexpected scenario could unfold: cancellation of the results and a re-run of the elections, at least in some provinces.

Farouq Sultan, the head of the election commission, has reportedly said that as many as a million votes could be invalid.

9.32am: Egypt: There are lots of tents and a few thousand people gathered in Tahrir Square, according to this video recorded within the last few minutes.

This is nothing like the turnout witnessed during last year's revolution.

9.28am: Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood supporters believe the generals won't accept an Islamist president, the BBC's Kevin Connolly reports from Cairo.

One told him: "The army is trying to steal our revolution".

9.10am: Syria: The "apocalyptic wasteland" of Homs is captured in a 10-minute video highlighted by the Atlantic.

The graphic and unverified footage portrays a 10-minute foot and motorbike journey into "Syria's heart of darkness", Atlantic's Max Fisher says.

The streets are mostly empty and totally silent, save for a distant but steady stream of gunshots. At one point, the videographer finds a group of young men – the only people we see are young men, everyone else appears to have fled or hidden in the few still-habitable homes – evacuating, from the back of a sedan to the bed of a pickup truck, a wounded and obviously terrified rebel fighter.

Somehow, it's the scenes with no action at all that are the most unnerving: a long row of burned-out cars, streets blanketed with cinderblocks blown out of neighbouring buildings, a complete dining room set perched in what remains of a third-floor apartment and totally exposed after the ceiling and wall have been destroyed, presumably by the Syrian government's near-constant shelling of this city of 750,000 people.

8.43am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live.

Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Egypt

• The Muslim Brotherhood started a sit-in ahead of a widely-backed planned protest in Tahrir Square today to reject last week's decision by parliament, and this week's delay in the announcement of the presidential election results. Several other parties and revolutionary groups are supporting the protests including the Salafist al-Nour party, the April 6th Movement, and the Revolutionary Socialists, Ahram reports.

• Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq says he is certain that he won the election, the Egypt Independent reports. But he refused to give figures ahead of the official announcement expected this weekend. He said: "I am sure that all the world leaders will deal with the winner, and history will not forgive any foreign power that tries to interfere in the voters' decision. I call upon all Egyptians ot co-operate for the sake of Egypt. I extend my hand to everyone."

• The delay in the official results is fuelling suspicion that they are taking "extra time to cook this", says Ashraf Khalil on the latest Arabist podcast.

There is a widespread belief that the Muslim Brotherhood is involved in high stakes negotiations over the result of the elections and the dissolution of parliament, the podcast discussed. It said there is a noticeable lack of outrage among secularists at the dissolution of parliament because of their antipathy to the Muslim Brotherhood.

• The Muslim Brotherhood's instinct is not to protest but to try to solve Egypt's political crisis behind closed doors, according to the New Yorker's Peter Hessler in Cairo.

Talking on a New Yorker podcast he describes his incredulity that so few of the Brotherhood's MPs protested outside parliament following its dissolution. He also criticises the Brotherhood for failing to build alliances with secularists when the parliament was in operation. "I think they are negotiating with the military council," he said. He added: "The thing that would lead to spontaneous demonstrations, is if the [electoral] commission announces that [Ahmed] Shafiq won the election. Then you're going to a see a lot of people out on the square and probably a lot of angry people." Wendell Steavenson, told the programme there is hope for Egypt if Morsi is declared the victor. "The fact that Morsi won and not Shafiq, means it was a free and unrigged election. That is not a small thing. If this is ratified the idea that for the first time in their history Egyptians have popularly, legitimately elected a leader is not a small thing. That process gives me hope."

• US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has urged the Egyptian military to hand over power to the "legitimate winner", but she has also chided revolutionaries for failing to get involved in politics. Speaking to the broadcaster Charlie Rose she said: "It is imperative that the military fulfill its promise to the Egyptian people to turn power over to the legitimate winner."

But she added:

Democracy is not about one election, one time ... One of the stories that will emerge even more in the months ahead is that the people who started the revolution in Tahrir Square decided they wouldn't really get involved in politics. I remember going to Cairo shortly after the success of the revolution, meeting with a large group of these mostly young people. And when I said, 'So are you going to form a political party? Are you going to be working on behalf of political change?' They said, 'Oh no. We're revolutionaries. We don't do politics.' ... I sat there and I thought that's how revolutions get totally derailed, taken over, undermined.

Syria

• Thursday witnessed the bloodiest day since the beginning of a shattered ceasefire, al-Jazeera reports, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Observatory said 114 people were killed yesterday.

• Jordan has granted asylum to a Syrian fighter pilot who landed his warplane at a military base near Amman on Thursday morning and announced his defection from the Assad regime. The pilot, a colonel, named by opposition activists as Hassan Merhi al-Hamadi, is the first known to have fled with a plane during the 16-month uprising.

• The US has hailed the courage of the colonel, and encouraged others to do the same. State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "We'd like to see more of this. We consider it extremely courageous and the right kind of move. It's obviously a significant moment when a guy takes a $25m plane and flies to another country and asks for asylum."

• UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous has privately conceded that the UN's monitoring mission in Syria has outlived its usefulness, Foreign Policy reports. At a private session with the security council Ladsous said that the recent increase in violence in Syria had simply obliterated the ceasefire the monitors were there to enforce.

• Members of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle are making plans to defect to the opposition should the Syrian regime become critically threatened by the rebellion, a US official told the Telegraph. "We are seeing members of Bashar al-Assad's inner circle make plans to leave," the official said.

Libya

• Libyan prime minister Abdulrahim el-Keib said that the detained international criminal court lawyer Melinda Taylor was guilty of actions that "compromised national security" and would not be released. She was arrested with three other ICC officers earlier this month after meeting the indicted war crimes suspect Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. Keib said: "During the meeting with the defendant [Saif], the defendant Melinda Taylor handed over to the accused some documents and papers which compromise the national security of Libya. These documents have nothing to do with the ICC mission." Taylor's three colleagues – a Lebanese translator, Russian diplomat and Spanish legal expert – have been told they are free to leave Zintan but have elected to stay with Taylor.

Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi is first senior Gaddafi regime official returned for trial under Libya's transitional leadership

Tunisia extradited former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's prime minister to Libya on Sunday, making him the first senior official to be returned for trial under the country's transitional leadership.

Defence ministry official Mohammed al-Ahwal said a helicopter had transferred Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi to Tripoli.

A prison official said Mahmoudi was undergoing medical checks there.Mahmoudi served as Libya's prime minister from 2006 until he fled to Tunisia in August.

His extradition could establish a precedent for other countries who have given refuge to or arrested members of Gaddafi's old entourage.

Libya's government and the international criminal court - which indicted Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam in June for crimes against humanity stemming from the crackdown on last year's revolt - have argued for months over where he should be tried.

Tripoli considers it a matter of national pride and a measure of the country's transformation for the trials of Gaddafi loyalists to be held in Libya, but human rights groups have questioned whether Libya's justice system can meet the standards of international law and say he should be handed over to the ICC instead.

Mabrouk Khorchid, Mahmoudi's lawyer, said he and his family had not been given warning about his extradition.

"I believe this is a state crime and is against human rights," he said. "This is a sad moment for human rights in Tunisia. I think he's going to be tortured and treated illegally and believe that those who handed him over bear part of the responsibility."

Khorchid said he had not been allowed to see his client for 20 days and had heard that Mahmoudi had been placed in solitary confinement and had suffered a nervous breakdown since Tunisia's justice minister said last month that an extradition was imminent.

"We called the presidency and they said they had not signed the extradition order and we were surprised that he was handed over like this," he said.

A Tunisian court ruled as far back as November that Mahmoudi should be extradited for trial. But the Tunisian president, Moncef al-Marzouki, later said the handover would not happen until the situation in Libya had stabilised and Mahmoudi could be guaranteed a fair trial.

Tunisia's parliament rejects president's claim that extraditing Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi without his permission was illegal

Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, has said his own government's extradition of Libya's former prime minister was illegal.

Marzouki said he was not consulted over the extradition of Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, whom Libya has accused of crimes committed during Muammar Gaddafi's rule.

Tunisia's executive, however, insisted the extradition last weekend - which had been opposed by human rights groups - was legal, claiming the president's permission was not needed.

It said the decision was made after a delegation visited Tripoli, which enjoys close relations with Tunis, and found Libya's justice system was competent enough to hold a fair trial.

Mahmoudi fled Libya in August after rebel forces stormed Tripoli, and has been held in Tunisia accused of illegally entering the country.

For Libya, there is immense satisfaction at having such a pivotal figure in custody. Mahmoudi, 70, spent two decades rising through the ministerial ranks of Gaddafi's Libya.

As the former chairman of both the high council for oil and gas and the Libyan Investment Authority, which owns £100bn in overseas assets, he can point investigators towards cash Gaddafi had moved abroad.

Peeling back the layers of Gaddafi's Libya will be a delicate process, with many current government officials having served in prominent positions under the former regime.

Tripoli hopes Tunisia's decision to hand over Mahmoudi will encourage other states to do likewise with other figures prominent under Gaddafi.

These, including Gaddafi's sons Mohammed and Saadi, who fled to Algeria and Niger respectively, are regarded in Tripoli as posing a potential threat to the stability of the country in the runup to elections on 7 July.

Mahmoudi's arrival also represents a challenge for Libya's government, which is under pressure from human rights groups over the lack of a functioning justice system.

The UN and Nato have already condemned the detention by militia of the Australian international criminal court lawyer Melinda Taylor in the mountain town of Zintan.

Canberra acknowledged at the weekend there may be no early release for Taylor, who is accused by Libya of trying to pass secret documents to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, also held in Zintan, during an official meeting with him earlier this month.

Libyan authorities have made complaint to the UN alleging lawyer Melinda Taylor was carrying spying devices

Libya has accused the detained international criminal court lawyer Melinda Taylor of "blatant violations" and says she secretly smuggled spying devices and a coded letter to Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

In a letter to the UN security council in New York obtained by the Guardian, the Libyan government gives its fullest account yet of the allegations against Taylor. It claims she was caught red-handed trying to pass Saif a secret letter from Mohammad Ismail, Saif's main aide and an associate of Gaddafi's intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.

Taylor, an Australian lawyer, also took in a sophisticated miniature video camera pen and a watch that "functions for the same purpose", according to the Libyans. Her behaviour was a clear violation of Libya's own judicial rules and the moral and professional commitments of the ICC, the letter says.

The Libyan authorities arrested Taylor on 7 June. She and three ICC colleagues were detained in the mountain town of Zintan after meeting the late dictator's son, who is being held by Zintan's militia. Despite calls from the ICC to release her, and a visit to Tripoli last week by Australia's foreign minister, Bob Carr, Taylor is still in custody.

Dated 20 June, and addressed to the UN security council president, Li Baodong, the Libyan government letter lays out apparently damning evidence against Taylor. It says she went far beyond tasks assigned to her by the ICC, which wants to try Saif al-Islam for crimes against humanity. The ICC delegation met him to discuss appointing a defence lawyer. The letter states: "During the meeting, Ms Taylor handed over to the accused [Saif] documents which content [sic] constitutes a threat to the Libyan national security, in the presence of an interpreter.

"One of these documents was a coded letter sent by Mohammad Ismail who had been working as the main aide to the accused, as well as a close security and intelligence assistant to the former head of intelligence service Abdullah al-Senussi."

The letter went on: "Remarkably, these documents are irrelevant to the procedures of the ICC and have no connection of any kind with the process of providing a relevant legal advice in the case of the accused.

"Additionally, it was discovered that Ms  Taylor and the other members of the delegation were carrying spying devices and recorders (a video camera pen and a watch that functions for the same purpose). This act violates the mandate of the court's delegation and is contrary to the tasks assigned to the assigned defence counsel."

Officials in Tripoli insist the equipment found on the ICC delegation is for spying. It includes a tiny video camera hidden in the pen. They also suggest that Taylor concealed the "coded" non-ICC documents down her back. As well as the Ismail letter, Taylor is accused of smuggling in a mysterious list of numbers and three otherwise blank sheets of paper bearing Saif's signature.

Taylor's friends and family, however, say that she is held in high regard professionally and would never have done anything improper. They suggest that some of the allegations against her may stem from a misunderstanding about privileged communications between a defence lawyer and her client, in which the exchange of documents and the recording of testimony is normal practice.

Taylor's three ICC colleagues include a Lebanese translator, a Russian diplomat and a Spanish legal expert. They are not under arrest but have elected to stay with her in Zintan until she is freed. According to the letter circulated in New York, Libya's prosecutor general launched an inquiry immediately after discovering the secret materials. The Libyan government says it only decided to restrict Taylor's movements – in other words, to imprison her – after she refused to co-operate during interrogation. It said: "She insisted not to say a word without the presence of an international defence counsel." The Libyans say they offered her a local lawyer supplied by the prosecutor general's office.

The case has turned into an international incident, as well as a headache for the Libyan government. It is believed that negotiations are now at a very delicate stage, with the authorities in Tripoli negotiating custody of Taylor with the Zintanis. Libya has promised to co-operate with the ICC but insists that Saif should be tried in the country rather than in The Hague.

Taylor's detention has plunged the ICC into crisis: it is the first time in the court's 10-year history that one of its officials has been seized. On 15 June, the ICC called for the release of its team – a move that evidently irked Tripoli since the ICC failed to mention the "violations committed by the members of the ICC delegation", the letter reveals.

Since then, the ICC has struck a more conciliatory tone. On Friday the court said it "deeply regrets" any events that may have caused concern for the Libyan authorities and added that had "no intention" of undermining the country's post-Gaddafi national security.

Libya's prime minister, Abdulrahim el-Keib, suggested publicly last week that Taylor had "compromised national security" and would not be released. Behind the scenes, however, it appears the country's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) is looking for a way out. The letter says Keib has held three top-level government meetings to discuss the case and is now seeking a "road map" to solve it.

Even if the NTC decides to release Melinda Taylor, it will face the problem of persuading Zintan's powerful militia to hand her over – with relations frosty between the mountain town and central government. Zintan emerged from last year's revolution with one of Libya's most powerful armies and the tranquillity of the town contrasts with the sporadic gun battles that still rock the capital.

Taylor's previous visit to the town to see Saif, in March, was at first blocked by Zintan's militia, who said they had not been paid their salaries, international criminal court documents record. In April, Zintan went back on an agreement with the government to hand Saif over to Tripoli, where a specially modified prison has been built for him in the suburb of Tajoura.

Zintan's British-educated council leader, Attaher Eturki, told the Guardian that Saif's trial should be held in Zintan because it was more secure than the capital. Some in Zintan see Saif as a bargaining chip in its relations with a central government that, as with other former rebel towns, it does not fully trust. They may view the custody of Taylor in a similar light. Saif's capture in November last year led to Zintan's militia commander being appointed, a week later, as Libya's defence minister.  

Libya's rulers are seeking to extradite Senussi from neighbouring Mauritania. They are also keen to track down Mohammad Ismail. They appear to believe that Taylor knows his whereabouts – a factor that may make her release more difficult.

• Turkey sends tanks to the Syrian border
• Nato backs Turkey but plays down talk of retaliation
• Rise in high level military defections in Syria
• Mubarak's former PM Ahmed Shafiq flees to UAE

• Read the latest summary

4.59pm: Here's a summary of the latest developments:

Syria

• Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened Syria with retaliation for shooting down a military jet, and warned that Turkish armed forces will respond to any Syrian encroachment on the border.

• Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance stands by Turkey but is not considering a military response.

• At least six people are reported to have been killed in the suburbs of Damascus in heavy clashes between rebels and the army.

• UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the security council that increasing danger has made it impossible for the observers in Syria to consider resuming operations at the moment, Reuters reports.

• The head of Syria's national Olympic committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa, said it would be "an honour" to be banned from the London Games, since he is the victim of a "fabricated media campaign".

Egypt

• Defeated presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq left Egypt for the UAE early today – just hours after the country's prosecutor general opened an investigation into allegations that he wasted public funds as a minister under Mubarak.

• Reform advocate Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed that he had meetings over the weekend with the military council amid speculation that he could play a role in Morsi's new government.

Tunisia

• There is growing speculation that President Moncef Marzouki may resign in protest at the government's decision to extradite former Libyan prime minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi.

4.48pm: Egypt: A language school in Cairo (the sort that teaches Arabic to foreigners) has circulated an email reassuring customers about Morsi's election. Here is an extract:

Amongst those viewing developments from a distance, some concerns have arisen regarding the fact that Mr Morsi is from an Islamic political party and have asked whether this means that Egypt is on its way to becoming Iran? In short, the answer is "no".

Mohamed Morsi is a US-educated businessman and engineer. His policy is to represent all Egyptians, regardless of religion or social background. He is currently seeking to establish a unity government comprised of Muslims and Christians representing all stands of the political spectrum. He has already entered into discussions with Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei for the role of prime minister.

The stock market has responded well and bookings in the tourist industry have also improved in the last few days; all signs that point to Egypt being open for business as usual.

In short, the mood here is one of cautious excitement and, above all, relief, that stability is beginning to return and life will get back to normal.

4.37pm: Syria: UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the security council today that increasing danger has made it impossible for the UN observer mission to consider resuming operations at the moment, Reuters reports citing a council diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ladsous also told the security council that the Syrian government has barred the observer mission from using satellite telephones, a key tool for their work, the diplomat said.

The head of the observer mission in Syria, General Robert Mood, announced on 16 June that he was suspending operations due to the increasing risks to the 300-strong force of military observers, who have been targeted with gunfire and bomb attacks.

4.12pm: Syria: A resident of the upmarket Barzeh neighbourhood of north-east Damascus describes hearing explosions and witnessing a raid this morning.

Speaking via Skype, the man who did not want to be identified, told the Guardian:

I heard three or four explosions, one of them was in my neighbourhood, the others were distant. The security forces and troops were raiding my neighbourhood. I saw a house burning. There were snipers and an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on a military vehicle. They arrested many people in my area.

Now they have withdrawn. It is quiet now.

We see many indicators here on the ground that they are losing grip. Day after day, the Free Syrian Army troops are moving closer to the city.

Inside Damascus the security forces are fortifying their positions. They don't leave their stations. For the last two months life in Damascus has not been normal. Security compounds have turned into fortresses. You can see troops everywhere. It is like a city with martial law now.

3.51pm: Lebanon: Gunmen – believed to be Shia supporters of the Assad regime in Syria – put up roadblocks, burned tyres and fired into the air in downtown Beirut during the early hours of this morning, the New York Times reports.

The disturbances came after a Shia man was arrested on Monday on suspicion of firebombing the offices of New TV, a station critical of Assad's government. The arrested man, named as Wissam Alaaeddine, is believed to be a former member of the Lebanese Shia Amal movement.

According to the Beirut Daily Star the attacks came after New TV interviewed controversial Sunni Sheikh Ahmed Assir who allegedly made threats against Amal leader Nabih Berri and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. New TV had apologised for Assir's remarks.

[This is a guest post by Kouichi Shirayanagi]

3.29pm: Syria: Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (left) will attend a meeting this Saturday on the Syrian crisis after a request from international envoy Kofi Annan, Reuters reports.

"Sergei Lavrov has officially accepted the invitation to come to the actual meeting in Geneva on Saturday, June 30," UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a closed-door meeting of the security council on Syria.

"We attach great importance to this meeting."

3.24pm: Syria/Turkey:The shooting down of the Turkish jet was "stupid move" by Syria that could internationalise the crisis, according to Middle East analyst Juan Cole. Writing on his blog, Informed Comment, he says:

Syrians may have deliberately been sending Turkey a message, to back off.

It was a stupid move. As long a Syria did not engage in hostilities with other states in the region, it was teflon, since Russia and China were protecting it at the UN. But now that it has fired on a Nato plane, it has offered Turkey and its colleagues a legal way to use force.

I don't think either Turkey or other Nato members will be at all happy to be drawn into military action in Syria. (Nor do I think that would be a good idea). But they might be drawn into creating a humanitarian corridor at Hatay in Turkey, and guarding it from Syrian attack.

By its unwise aggression against Turkey, Syria may have internationalised its civil war, something it and its allies had desperately been trying to avoid.

Moreover, if Turkey really does stop helping with electricity exports to Aleppo, that step could contribute to further discontent in one of the few major cities where protests have been muted and somewhat infrequent.

Since the post was published Nato has confirmed that it stands by Turkey but does want to get drawn into the dispute.

2.52pm: Egypt: Some intriguing details about Ahmed Shafiq's hasty departure for Abu Dhabi, as reported by the Egypt Independent:

• Shafiq arrived at Cairo international airport 15 minutes before the departure of his plane.

• Employees from the public relations department [of the airport?] gave him a send-off as others gathered around him in protest.

• Shafiq was transported to the plane in a private car while his daughters arrived on a shuttle bus.

2.48pm: Egypt: Reuters is reporting that a court has overturned the controversial decree allowing the military to arrest civilians. There are no details as yet.

The decree had been viewed by many as a back-door way of reintroducing the long-standing emergency law which was allowed to lapse earlier this year.

2.31pm: Syria: The number of people killed in Syria has increased to 38, according to an email update from Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It claimed 10 were killed in the suburbs of Damascus, after clashes in the Qudsayya suburb were followed by an army bombardment.

It also said one of those killed was shot by sniper fire in the Jobar area.

The local activist group, the Revolution Council of Damascus named six of those killed in Qudsayya, and circulated footage showing their bodies.

The umbrella opposition group, the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria, claimed 44 people have been killed today, including 20 in the suburbs of the capital.

2.15pm: Syria: French support for a western military intervention in Syria is waning, an opinion poll showed today, with 52% of respondents in favour against 65% in Spain and a minority in Germany and Italy.

The survey by pollster Ifop found that respondents in all four countries were less in favour of having their own armies participate in any action, Reuters reports.

French support for action slipped from 58% in a survey by the same pollster three weeks ago.

In Germany, only 45% of those surveyed approved of the west taking military action in Syria, while in Italy the figure was just 43%. In both cases some two-thirds of respondents were against their own country getting involved.

2.04pm: Syria/Turkey: Turkey has sent troop reinforcement to the Syrian border, after Erdogan's warning that soldiers approaching the border will be treated as target, the Turkish daily Zaman reported citing the Cihan news agency.

It said 15 military vehicles, including tanks and cannons, were dispatched to the border from Diyarbakir.

Video has also emerged purporting to show Turkish tanks being taken to the border area.

1.47pm: Egypt: The Washington Post has a video clip of yesterday's meeting between the military council and president-elect Mohamed Morsi. An awkward moment, with interesting body language.

1.42pm: Syria: Activists in the outskirts of Aleppo say that 280 soldiers defected today in Idlib near the main highway leading to Aleppo, al-Jazeera reports.

There is no independent confirmation but if the report is correct it would be one of the largest mass defections so far.

According to the activists cited by al-Jazeera, there were clashes between the defectors and the Syrian army. One helicopter was allegedly shot down and six tanks destroyed.

1.34pm: Syria: Iran is not on the same side of the Syrian conflict as the US and its allies, but it does have a big stake in ending the bloodshed and finding a political solution to the crisis, Iranian journalist Mohammad Ataie argues in an article for Comment is free.

"This is common ground that should not be ignored in any genuine initiative to stop the unrelenting bloodshed," he writes.

The Islamic republic has stood firmly behind the Syrian regime in the expectation that President Assad would be serious about reform – and is now showing signs of disappointment, Ataie says.

Iranian leaders have repeatedly defended their Syrian stance by emphasising that Assad is intent on implementing reforms and that his reform plans enjoy the backing of a majority of Syrian people.

But, particularly since the recent parliamentary election in Syria, there has been an increasing sense of frustration in Tehran with the sluggish Assad-led political reforms.

1.22pm: Syria: The head of Syria's national Olympic committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa (left), has told a newspaper it would be "an honour" to be banned from the London Games, since he is the victim of a "fabricated media campaign".

There were reports last week that British authorities have turned down the general's visa application, though Syrian athletes will be allowed to compete.

In a statement published today by the Syrian newspaper al-Baath, Joumaa said if such a ban was issued, "it would be an honour for me as a Syrian citizen who loves his people and homeland".

"If Britain issues such a decision under political pretexts and other illusions and justifications, then its objective will be to pressure Syria in all fields, including sports."

The Associated Press adds:

He stressed that sport, like anything else in Syria, was subject to pressures and conspiracy "to undermine the steadfastness and unity of the Syrian people."

However, he said, all Syrian athletes stood behind the process of reforms and modernisation led by Assad. About 10 Syrian athletes are due to compete in London.

1.01pm: Bahrain: The government says it will pay $2.6m to 17 families over deaths last year during protests, Reuters reports.

"Disbursement of compensation to the families of 17 deceased persons has begun in keeping with the implementation of the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)," said a government statement citing a justice ministry official, adding this amounted to $153,000 per individual.

It gave no details on who the recipients were.

The BICI, an investigative body head by international legal experts, said in November 35 people died during the unrest, which began in February 2011 after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

12.14pm: Here's a summary of events so far today:

Syria/Turkey

• Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened Syria with retaliation for the shooting down of a military jet, and warned that Turkish armed forces would respond to any Syrian encroachment on the border. "Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria by posing a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target," he said.

• Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said the alliance stands by Turkey, but confirmed it is not considering a military response. He said he did not expect the dispute between Turkey and Syria to escalate. "Should anything happen, allies will remain seized of developments. We closely monitor the situation, and if necessary we will consult and discuss what else could be done," Rasmussen said (see 10.50am).

• At least six people are reported to have been killed in the suburbs of Damascus in heavy clashes between rebels and the army. The International Committee of the Red Cross is to make another attempt to evacuate wounded civilians from the opposition stronghold of Homs.

• There has been an increase in the ranks and importance of those switching sides, according to the New York Times, after a Syrian general, two colonels, a major and a lieutenant defected with 33 other soldiers. A spate of other recent defections also includes a colonel who flew a jet to Jordan last week. Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Mideast Center in Beirut, said: "There are hundreds of generals in the Syrian Army, but when the dam begins to crack, it starts with a trickle."

• The US has accused the UN of a "colossal failure" over Syria as the security council prepares for another briefing on suspending UN monitoring mission. The UN is considering cutting the size of the monitoring mission, according to diplomats.

Egypt

• Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq has flown to the UAE, after congratulating his rival in the presidential run off, Mohamed Morsi. His parting shot was: "I congratulate Mohamed Morsi, the elected Egyptian president, wishing him success in his difficult mission", the Egypt Independent reports.

• Reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed that he had meetings over the weekend with the military council amid speculation that he could play a role in Morsi's new government. "I wish the next PM will be ElBaradei," says the prominent blogger Zeinobia.

Tunisia

• There is growing speculation that President Moncef Marzouki may resign in protest at the government's decision to extradite former Libyan prime minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi. According to Tunisia Live, 60 members of Tunisia's Constituent Assembly have signed a petition in protest against the decision.

12.00pm: Syria: The activist group, the Local Co-ordination Committee in Syria, claims 30 people have been killed so far today, including 15 in the suburbs around Damascus after reports of heavy fighting there.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says six were killed in the suburbs of the Damascus, out of a deathtoll of 23 so far today.

Its tally includes the death of three Syrian soldiers in a car bomb attack in Idlib.

11.41am: Syria: Is Erdogan suggesting some form of safe zone inside Syria by threatening to target Syrian soldiers approaching the border?

AP quoted him saying:

The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed. Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria by posing a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target.

Our diplomatic editor Julian Borger says this is a significant move:

Most significant Erdogan remark was that #Turkey ROE changed. Syrian military activity near the border seen as threat. No more hot pursuit?

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 26, 2012

Erdogan key quote: "Any military element that APPROACHES Turkish border from #Syria will be regarded as a threat + treated as a mil target"

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 26, 2012

Changed #Turkey ROE, targeting #Syria military elements "approaching" border could mark start of mini safe zone, if maximally interpreted.

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 26, 2012

11.38am: Egypt: There are reports this morning that defeated presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq has left Egypt for Abu Dhabi in a hurry.

Citing an unnamed Cairo airport official, AP says Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister flew out of Egypt at dawn, just hours after the country's prosecutor general opened an investigation into allegations that he wasted public funds during his eight-year-term as a civil aviation minister under Mubarak.

The official says Shafiq was accompanied by his three daughters and grandchildren.

Ahram Online explains some of the background to the legal complaints against Shafiq:

Less than 24 hours after Ahmed Shafiq lost the presidential contest to Mohamed Morsi, several lawyers have filed complaints with the office of the prosecutor against Mubarak's last prime minister charging him with corruption.

A high-level judicial source said that councillor Osama El-Seidi, a Justice Ministry investigator, will receive this week the report prepared by experts in the Illicit Profiteering and Real Estate Agency who have examined procedures for the allocation of land sold by the Cooperative for Construction and Housing for Pilots, which was headed by Ahmed Shafiq in the 1990s.

11.22am: Syria: The EU has imposed a travel ban on Assad spokeswoman Bouthaina Shaaban as part of its 16th round of sanctions against Syria, Reuters reports.

European Union added the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB) and Syria's national oil transport company to its list of targeted groups, according to its official journal, where EU laws are published.

"From 2011 to 2012, SIIB surreptitiously facilitated financing of 150 million dollars on behalf of the Commercial Bank of Syria," the EU announcement said.

The bank has 20 branches and three offices in Syria and has already been sanctioned by the US Treasury, which has accused the bank of helping Syria's state-owned Commercial Bank to evade U.S. counter-proliferation sanctions.

The bloc also added a travel ban against Bouthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad who has served as a government spokeswoman.

A number of Syrian government bodies were also named in the sanctions list, including the defence and interior ministries, the national security bureau and the national radio and television corporation.

11.07am: Syria/Turkey: The Turkish daily Zaman has more on Erdogan's bellicose speech.

It quoted him saying:

However valuable Turkey's friendship is, its wrath is just as strong. Don't take our common sense and cautious approach as a sign of passivity.

Radar findings are all clear. They downed a reconnaissance jet that was on a solo test flight. This is a hostile act.

The Syrian administration is tyrannical and not just," he said. "Turkey will be in solidarity with our brothers in Syria until a new regime is in place."

Turkey will be in solidarity with our brothers in Syria until a new regime arrives. We will offer all the possible support to liberate the Syrians from dictatorship.

The Syrian authorities remain equally defiant. Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi insisted that the plane was over Syrian waters.

We heard previous statements made by the Nato that they have no intention of military intervention in Syria. If the aim of the meeting is aggressive in nature, I want to reassure everyone that the Syrian territories, waters and airspace are sacrosanct for the Syrian army.

So far it is just a war of words.

11.03am: Syria: Here's the full text of Nato's statement on the downing of a Turkish jet, after today's meeting.

The North Atlantic Council has met at Turkey's request to hold consultations within the framework of Article 4 of the Washington Treaty which states that "the Parties will consult whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence, or security of any of the Parties is threatened."

The North Atlantic Council discussed the shooting down of a Turkish aircraft by Syria. We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms. It is another example of the Syrian authorities' disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.
Our thoughts at this difficult time are with the missing Turkish aircrew, their families and their loved ones. We continue to follow the situation closely and with great concern, and will remain seized of developments on the South-Eastern border of NATO.

The security of the Alliance is indivisible. We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity.

10.50am: Syria: Nato secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Nato stands by Turkey, but it will not immediately retaliate if Syria attacks another Turkish aircraft.

Speaking at a press conference after Nato's meeting Rasmussen said:

I would expect that such an incident won't happen again. Should anything happen, allies will remain seized of developments. We closely monitor the situation, and if necessary we will consult and discuss what else could be done ...

Allies have expressed their strong support for and solidarity with Turkey. We will remain seized of developments.

It is my clear expectation that the situation won't continue to escalate. What we have seen is a completely unacceptable act. And I would expect Syria to take all necessary acts to avoid such events in the future.

10.41am: Syria: Turkey has suggested it will retaliate against Syria, by stating that it has changed the rules of engagement with its southern neighbour, AP reports.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkish Armed Forces "will respond to all violations on the Syrian border."

He said Syrian helicopters have violated Turkish airspace five times recently, without Turkish response.

Syria insists that the Turkish plane violated its air space. But Turkey disagrees, saying that though the plane had unintentionally strayed into Syria's air space, it was inside international airspace when it was brought down on Friday.

10.33am: Syria: Turkey is looking to pile diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria, rather than consider military options, says the Guardian's Martin Chulov.
Speaking via Skype from Beirut, Martin said:

They are looking for leverage. The further we get away from this incident [the shooting down of Turkish jet by Syria], the less likely we are to see Turkish bombers flying into Syria to take retaliation. It is going to be played out at a diplomatic and sanctions level.

The latest high-level defections from the Syria military may embolden others to follow suit, but key officers remain loyal, Martin said.

There have been moves by the Saudis to indicate that they will start to pay the salaries of FSA officers and soldiers. That is something that is permeating around the ranks of the FSA inside Syria. There is the feeling that something is coming in terms of a critical mass of defections. But we are not at that point yet.

The Alawite officer corp remains very solid, as does the inner sanctum - the ruling clan. We have seen no defections of any note of either of those two areas.

On the latest attacks around the capital, Martin added:

Damascus still remains reasonably well under the control of the regime. The two key divisions in the Syrian army are responsible for the protection of the capital. They are holding firm. They are very loyal. There are skirmishes and guerrilla attacks in the capital, but they are more nuisance value than anything. It doesn't mean the capital is about to fall. It is still very much the hub of the regime's power. Aleppo, the commercial centre, is the second hub. Neither are showing any real risks of falling at this point. Although the agitation levels, the violence levels, are steadily increasing in both areas.

Rebels are getting supplies of small arms and ammunition across the Turkish borders, Martin pointed out.

They are proving reasonably decisive in a series of running battles with regime forces. They are not enough to tip the balance, but they are starting to do more than keep the Syrian military guessing.

10.31am: Syria: Amid reports of growing numbers of defections from the Syrian military, the government news agency relates the story of Ahmad Omar Said, a Palestinian who claims that he was kidnapped and forced to pose for photographs pretending to be a defected army colonel.

Two gunmen on a motorcycle intercepted me, tied my hands and blindfolded me ... later they took me to unknown farm," Said told the Syrian TV in an interview broadcast Monday.

He said that the gunmen put him in a room, beat him and asked him to bear a weapon and claim that he is a defected Army colonel ... later they photographed him after giving him a rifle.

"The armed group contacted my family by phone, claiming that they are from the so-called the free army, asking my family: do you want to send him back in a box or torn apart in sacks ..." Said added.

10.16am: Tunisia: There is growing speculation that President Moncef Marzouki (left) may resign in protest at the government's decision to extradite former Libyan prime minister Baghdadi Mahmoudi.

According to Tunisia Live, 60 members of Tunisia's Constituent Assembly have signed a petition in protest against the decision.

Marzouki's spokesman Adnan Manser, quoted by Tunisia Live, said yesterday:

There is a possibility that Marzouki will resign in response to the extradition of Mahmoudi without his consultation and signature. This is a transgression on Marzouki's prerogatives. We consider this decision to be illegal and illegitimate. An objection will be delivered to the Constituent Assembly in protest of this.

Mahmoudi was the last prime minister of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi and publicly supported the Libyan government's crackdown on demonstrators throughout the Libyan revolution.

Mahmoudi escaped from Tripoli after the city fell to opposition fighters in August last year. He was later arrested in Tozeur, Tunisia, and charged with crossing the border illegally.

The dispute over his extradition had previously been a point of contention between the Tunisian and Libyan governments. Some in the Tunisian government opposed his extradition believing that he would not be granted a fair trial and his life could be in danger in Libya.

Others, led by prime minister Hamadi Jebali of the Ennahda party, supported the extradition arguing that the Libyan government had given a verbal guarantee to respect human rights and give Mahmoudi a fair trial.

[This is a guest post by Kouichi Shirayanagi]

10.01am: Syria: As fallout from the Turkish warplane incident continues, Nato will be discussing it in Brussels and prime minister Erdogan is addressing the Turkish parliament.

Tim Marshall of Sky News is not expecting fireworks from either meeting:

Turkish PM addressing parliament now re shooting down of jet, and NATO now meeting in Brussels. Expect moderate tone from both.

— Tim Marshall (@Skytwitius) June 26, 2012

While Erdogan insists that Turkey will not stand idly by, etc, etc, he seems more interested at present in telling MPs about his economic achievements.

Turkish PM Erdogan: No one can say that Turkey should be indifferent, spectator and remain silent in events in its vicinity.

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) June 26, 2012

Turkish PM currently discussing fascinating changes in fiscal budget of last few years. Its not war yet.....

— Tim Marshall (@Skytwitius) June 26, 2012

9.20am: Syria: An activist in Damascus reports hearing an explosion in the Barzeh neighbourhood:

Big explosion in my neighborhood, Barzeh. It felt near. I heard massive blasts in the last half an hour but they were far. #Damascus

— Ameer (@7__r) June 26, 2012

Local activists in Barzeh reporting presence of military force in Freedom square where we usually protest. The blast was from that direction

— Ameer (@7__r) June 26, 2012

Actually I just read reports about tanks in Barzeh, haven't seen any though.

— Ameer (@7__r) June 26, 2012

9.03am: Syria: There have been heavy clashes between the army and rebels in the suburbs of Damascus, according to unconfirmed reports.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces and armoured vehicles stormed the neighbourhood of Barzeh, an opposition foothold in the capital, and there were sounds of heavy gunfire.

It said explosions hit the suburbs of Dumar and Qudsiya on Tuesday.

8.41am: Syria: The US has accused the UN of a "colossal failure" over Syria as the security council prepares for another briefing on suspending UN monitoring mission, the Telegraph reports.

It quotes Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, as saying:

The situation in Syria represents a colossal failure by the Security Council to protect civilians.

For over a year, this council has not been willing to protect the Syrian people from the brutal actions of their government ... It is a shame that this Council continues to stand by rather than to stand up.

Meanwhile, the UN is considering cutting the size of the monitoring mission, diplomats have told Reuters.

"With violence increasing, the most likely option for the United Nations is to reduce or eliminate the (unarmed) military component of Unsmis (UN Supervision Mission in Syria) while keeping a civilian component in place as a kind of liaison operation," a senior Western envoy said on condition of anonymity. Another council diplomat corroborated his remarks.

Among the other options being considered, envoys said, are closing it down completely, leaving it as is, or increasing the number of monitors and possibly arming them.

But there is little appetite for those other options in the case of Unsmis, which said on 16 June it was suspending its operations due to increased risks to the lives of the observers, who have been targeted with gunfire and bombings since they began deploying in April, council diplomats say.

"If there's no change, it's hard to imagine leaving it as is, turning it into a peacekeeping force with a mandate to protect civilians, or telling everyone to go home," a diplomat told Reuters. "More likely Unsmis will remain at some level in case a political process or serious negotiations begin."

8.15am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. The main themes today look set to be: Nato's meeting about Syria's attack on a Turkish jet; continuing defections among higher echelons of the Syrian military; and president-elect Mohamed Morsi's formation of a cabinet in Egypt.

Here's a roundup in more detail:

Syria

• Turkey is to demand backing from its Nato allies at a special meeting called after Syria shot down a Turkish jet last week in an incident Damascus said was self-defence but which Ankara branded an "act of aggression". It is only the second time in Nato's 63-year history that it has convened under article four of its charter which provides for consultations when a member state feels its territorial integrity, political independence or security is under threat.

• Turkey has sharply raised the stakes in a military standoff with Syria, claiming one of its search and rescue planes was shot at as it tried to find the downed jet. Bülent Arınç, the deputy prime minister, said the rescue plane had been attacked as it flew over the Mediterranean searching for two pilots. The claim undermines Damascus's insistence that the first jet was attacked due to mistaken identity.

• Russia has expressed its alarm at the Nato meeting and warned against an escalation of the conflict in Syria. Deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko said Turkey's request for the meeting was a "very alarming signal" that there is a possibility of "escalation around Syria," RIA Novosti reports.

• There has been an increase in the ranks and importance of those switching sides, according to the New York Times, after a Syrian general, two colonels, a major and a lieutenant defected with 33 other soldiers. A spate of other recent defections also includes a colonel who flew a jet to Jordan last week. Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Mideast Center in Beirut, said:

With the defection of the airplane and these people, regardless of whether they are important themselves — you can lose a plane or two — what must be a concern is the establishment of a pattern and a precedent. So far none of this is significant; there are hundreds of generals in the Syrian Army, but when the dam begins to crack, it starts with a trickle.

Egypt

• President-elect Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood spent his first day in office locked in discussions with the military over choosing his cabinet, as his team confirmed he wanted to form a coalition government. Former presidential candidate and member of the Muslim Brotherhood Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouhs said the new president was a "ghost without the will or authority of a real president". Despite a pledge to continue protesting at the new powers of the military, Morsi's supporters left Tahrir Square. The Brotherhood is prone to deal-making rather than confrontation, and in his acceptance speech Morsi seemed conciliatory towards the armed forces and the police.

• Reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei confirmed that he had meetings over the weekend with the military council amid speculation that he could play a role in Morsi's new government. "I wish the next PM will be ElBaradei," says the prominent blogger Zeinobia.

• Egypt faces a major struggle ahead, but writer Ahdaf Soueif is more hopeful after hearing Morsi's first speech.

He repeatedly stated that he saw himself as president of all Egyptians. He spoke of Christians and women – knowing they have special reason be wary of an MB man. He said many of the things we wanted him to say. He spoke of our murdered young people, and of the injured and their families; of freedom, human rights and social justice; of Egyptian sovereignty and interests. And as I listened I felt more and more hopeful.

Armed units say they will stay in place until Cyrenaica, Libya's oil-rich eastern province, is given more seats in new parliament

The main highway linking east and west Libya has been cut by armed militia demanding changes to the rules of the country's national elections due on 7 July.

Armed units backed by vehicles mounted with anti-aircraft guns have cut the highway at Red Wadi, 40 miles from Libya's main oil refinery at Ras Lanuf.

The militia say they will stay in place until Cyrenaica, Libya's oil-rich eastern province, is given a greater distribution of seats in the new national parliament, the national congress.

The region's self-declared Barqa Council – the Arab name for Cyrenaica – is calling for a boycott of the national elections unless seats are shared equally between Libya's three provinces.

The roadblock, which government forces have not opposed, has further raised concerns over doubts over whether Libya can hold free and fair elections on schedule as violence continues in many parts of the country.

Fresh fighting has broken out in the southern town of Kufra, where battles between the indigenous Tibu people and Arab tribes earlier this year left 70 dead.

Tense ceasefires continue around the towns of Zuara and Zintan, where battles cost more than 100 lives earlier this month.

Benghazi has also been the scene of attacks blamed on jihadists, including a rocket attack on the British ambassador's convoy earlier this month.

And the explosion of an improvised explosive device outside the Tunisian consulate in Tripoli on Tuesday night has put many international organisations on edge. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has seen two of its four offices in Libya bombed this month and is reviewing security.

"There are some security incidents that affected several targets," said ICRC head of mission in Libya Georges Comminos. "We have to take certain precautions."

Opposition to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, which is seen by critics as both secretive and dictatorial, is growing in the main former rebel towns of Benghazi, Misrata and Zintan, each of which has established its own ruling council.

"At the moment, we're protesting over our demands for an equal number of seats in the National General Conference," Brigadier General Hamid Hassi, in charge of the highway roadblock, told the English Language Libya Herald newspaper. "Libya is currently divided and the best proof of that is that Misrata has now, in effect, a separate government, and Zintan likewise."

Extradited politician had ribs broken and lung punctured, claims lawyer, but Tripoli officials dismiss allegations as naked lie

The lawyer acting for Libya's former prime minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, who was extradited to Tripoli from Tunisia at the weekend, claims his client has been tortured.

Marcel Ceccaldi, a French lawyer, said on Wednesday Mahmoudi had been badly beaten by Libyan security officers and left with broken ribs and a punctured lung.

"According to the information I have, it seems that he has been beaten," said Ceccaldi. "He is in hospital, under guard."

But Libya's government denied torture had taken place. Tripoli officials said reports of Mahmoudi being wounded were rumours, amounting to a "naked lie".

A Libyan government spokesman, Nassar el-Manaa, on Wednesday denied claims that Mahmoudi was mistreated in prison. "We would like to say it's wrong, a naked lie … that he was attacked and is in a sort of coma. Al-Bagdadi al-Mahmoudi is in good health and he is in need of nothing, god willing."

He said human rights groups had yet to visit the former prime minister, who, he said, was being held in a justice ministry facility. "In the near future a visit will be given to any Tunisian entity to see for themselves the condition."

Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, has branded the extradition "illegal", saying it was done behind his back.

Mahmoudi served as Muammar Gaddafi's prime minister from March 2006, until, in August 2011, fleeing to Tunisia after the fall of Tripoli to rebel forces. He was reportedly handed over to Libyan officials in Tunis on Sunday and flown by helicopter to a Libyan prison.

In what has become a political crisis in Tunisia, pitting parliament against president, government officials insist the extradition came after it was ensured Libya could guarantee a fair trial. They say they did not need presidential permission for the move to return him.

But Ceccaldi claims such assurances were breached within hours of Mahmoudi arriving back in Libya. He alleges that his client was moved to a detention facility at Tripoli's Mitiga military airport where the beating took place.

Speaking from Paris, he said hospital workers told him that Mahmoudi, 70, had extensive wounds. "People said to me he has broken ribs, he has perforated lung, and he fell into a coma," he said. "If something bad happens to Al-Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi the accomplices of his action are the members of the Tunisian government who organised his extradition."

But a spokesman for Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, Saleh Darhoub, denied that mistreatment had occurred. "The Libyan authorities would like to assure that Mahmoudi has not been tortured," he said. "He will be brought to justice lawfully."

The International Committee for the Red Cross in Libya said it was still waiting for permission to visit Mahmoudi. "[He] has been visited 10 times in Tunisia," said Soaade Messoudi, the organisation's Tripoli spokeswoman. "We have not visited him [here] yet."

Amnesty International had urged the Tunisian authorities not to extradite Mahmoudi, and warned that he could be subjected to human rights violations in Libya.

"He faces a real risk of torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trial and possibly extrajudicial execution," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and north Africa. correctShe condemned the decision to return him to Libya.

Mahmoudi had been arrested in Tunisia late September and sentenced to six months' imprisonment for "illegal entry".

He was acquitted later that month. According to Amnesty, the Libyan authorities have charged him with "misuse of public money", "insulting civil servants", "threatening security officials with weapons" and "incitement to commit rape". The charges relate to incidents that allegedly took place between 2006 and 2011.

Tunisia's court of appeal approved Mahoudi's extradition last November. But Marzouki, a former human rights activist, blocked the extradition, citing human rights concerns.

The allegations of mistreatment come at a sensitive time for Libya, which has been criticised by Amnesty and Human Rights Watch for failing to investigate allegations that some of the 7,000 prisoners held in detention have been beaten and tortured.

Since August at least 20 prisoners have died in custody, Amnesty said, with Libya's official and semi-official detention facilities under the control of armed militia.

On Tuesday militia groups also cut the main highway linking east and west Libya, demanding changes to the rules of the country's first post-Gaddafi national elections, due to be held on 7 July.

Armed units, backed by Jeeps mounting anti-aircraft guns, blocked the highway at Red Wadi, 40 miles from Libya's main oil refinery at Ras Lanuf.

The militia say they will stay in place until Cyrenaica, Libya's oil-rich eastern province, is given a greater distribution of seats in the new national parliament, the national congress. It is backed by the self-declared Barqua council – the Arab name for Cyrenaica – which is calling for a boycott of the national elections unless seats are shared equally between Libya's three provinces.

The roadblock, which government forces have not opposed, comes with doubts over whether Libya can hold free and fair elections on schedule as violence continues in many parts of the country.

Fresh fighting has broken out in the southern town of Kufra, where battles between the indigenous Tibu people and Arab tribes this year have left 70 dead.

Tense ceasefires continue around the towns of Zuara and Zintan, where battles cost more than 100 lives in June. Benghazi has also been the scene of attacks blamed on Jihadists, including a rocket attack on the British ambassador's convoy this month.

The explosion of an IED outside the Tunisian consulate in Tripoli on Tuesday night put many international organisations on edge. The International Committee of the Red Cross has had two of its four offices in Libya bombed this June and is now reviewing security.

"There are some security incidents that affected several targets," said the organisation's head of mission in Libya, Georges Comminos. "We have to take certain precautions."

Opposition to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council, which is seen by critics as both secretive and dictatorial, is growing in the main former rebel towns of Benghazi, Misrata and Zintan, each of which has established its own ruling council.

"At the moment, we're protesting over our demands for an equal number of seats in the national general conference, [national congress]" Brigadier General Hamid Hassi, in charge of the highway roadblock, told the Libya Herald newspaper. "Libya is currently divided and the best proof of that is that Misrata has now in effect a separate government, and Zintan likewise."

Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sami al-Saadi allege UK involvement in their rendition back to Libya in 2004

Lawyers representing two Libyan dissidents who were abducted and flown to Tripoli to be detained in one of Muammar Gaddafi's prisons have issued proceedings in the high court in London against the British government, the former foreign secretary Jack Straw and Sir Mark Allen, the former head of counter-terrorism at MI6.

Abdel Hakim Belhaj and his pregnant wife were abducted in Bangkok, allegedly tortured and then flown to Libya in March 2004, two weeks before Tony Blair paid his first visit to Gaddafi and declared that they had found common cause in the fight against terrorism.

Sami al-Saadi, his wife and four children – the youngest a girl aged six – were detained in Hong Kong before being bundled aboard an aircraft and "rendered" to Libya two days after Blair's visit. Each man spent more than six years in custody.

Legal proceedings are based in part on a secret cache of Libyan intelligence documents, discovered in an abandoned Tripoli office during last year's revolution, which appear to show Allen claimed credit for the tipoff that led to Belhaj's abduction. They also show that the CIA regarded the abduction of Al-Saadi and his family to have been a joint UK/Libyan rendition operation.

Papers lodged at the high court on Thursday accuse Straw, Allen, MI6, MI5, the Foreign Office and Home Office of being liable for the families' false imprisonment as well as "complicity in torture and/or inhuman and degrading treatment; conspiracy to injure; conspiracy to use unlawful means; misfeasance in public office and/or negligence".

However, the case is almost certain to fall foul of the controversial secret justice proposals of the government's justice and security bill, which aims to give ministers the power to ensure the public and media are excluded from civil trials in which the government itself is a defendant, and to deny claimants and their lawyers the chance to see and challenge evidence that government lawyers introduce in the government's defence.

Sapna Malik of law firm Leigh Day said: "It is extraordinary that in light of such clear evidence of the involvement of the British government, in what we believe was illegal activity, they have chosen the stock response of neither confirming nor denying their complicity.

"We can't help but make the link between our client's cases and the current obsession by this government on closed trials, which offend the fundamental principles of justice in this country and would succeed in hiding the truth behind these allegations and similar accusations of illegal activity by the security services on the instruction of politicians."

Straw and Allen have declined to comment.

An FCO spokesperson said: "Civil litigation proceedings are under way, so we are unable to comment on the details of this case. Her Majesty's government will co-operate fully with the police investigations into allegations made by former Libyan detainees about UK involvement in their mistreatment by the Gaddafi regime."

• Blast near Palace of Justice in Damascus
• Russia keeps diplomats guessing on its backing for Assad
• Moscow ready to deliver repaired helicopter gunships

• Read the latest summary

5.15pm: Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

• A bomb exploded in a car park outside the main court building in central Damascus. State TV blamed terrorists and reported that three people were injured.

• Turkish military convoys have been deployed close to the Syrian border, as tension continues over the shooting down of a Turkish jet last week. The convoy included anti-aircraft guns.

• Russia has been sending mixed signals about whether it will support Kofi Annan's idea of transition to a national unity government set to be discussed in crisis talks in Geneva this Saturday. .

• The opposition Syrian National Council said it would not support the idea of a unity government if it only involved the removal of President Assad from power.

• The Syrian parliament has approved a draft law penalising government employees who join or support the opposition, by depriving them of salaries and pension rights.

Egypt

• Egypt is threatening legal action against Iran's Fars News over what it claims is a fake interview with president-elect Mohamed Morsi.

• Prominent activists, including Wael Ghonim, have met President-elect Mohamed Morsi to discuss how he can implement the goals of the revolution, the Egypt Independent reports.

Libya/Tunisia

• The lawyer acting for Libya's former prime minister al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, who was extradited to Tripoli from Tunisia at the weekend, claims his client has been tortured.

4.42pm: Syria: Joshua Landis, a Syria-watcher of long standing, paints a dismal picture of life in Aleppo in his latest blog post:

"Not one drop of petrol" has been available in Aleppo for a week now, friends lament. Media sources report that three Iranian gas carriers have sailed to Syria with gas shipments, but that will be a drop in the bucket. All the taxi services have come to a stand-still in Aleppo.

Friends say they are willing to pay 10 times the amount of a litre of gas for their car but there just isn't any. They are stranded in the homes. Those who have moved out to villas in the suburbs are really at a loss because they cannot walk down town or to go shopping.

A blue bottle of cooking gas in Damascus goes for 4,000 pounds or about $50. It is only a matter of time before electricity stops altogether and food becomes scarce. Transportation will be disrupted and supplies irregular around the country.

The economic situation in Syria continues to deteriorate as Syrians close to Assad recognise that he is incapable of managing or finding a way out the crises.

The problem is in the details. No one can imagine how a transition would work.

Note: The claim that "not one drop of petrol" is available in the city has been greeted with some scepticism on Twitter.

4.25pm: Syria: Parliament has approved a draft law penalising government employees who join or support the opposition. The official news agency, Sana, says the law will provide for ...

... demobilising state workers or employees and depriving them of their wages, salaries and pension rights if charged with committing terrorist acts, joining terrorist groups or providing support to them.

4.13pm: Syria: Kofi Annan's conference in Geneva is doomed to failure because it is unrealistic to expect the Assad regime to agree to a unity government, one of Syria's most prominent internal opposition leaders has warned.

Louay Hussein, founder of the reform movement, Building the Syrian State, said world leaders were more interested in their own disputes than solving the Syrian crisis.

Speaking to the Guardian from Damascus via a translator, Hussein said:

The parties who are going to take part in the conference don't have enough will to end the crisis. They just want to manage the crisis, and keep it going, until the disagreements between them are resolved.

Hussein, who has been in regular contact with Annan and his team, said:

If Assad was persuaded to leave we would support it, but as politicians we don't expect miracles. It is unrealistic. Any talk about Assad leaving, or a national unity government, or any other scenario of imposing a solution on the regime is not realistic. It does not take into account the balance of forces and the structure of the Syrian regime.

He added: "It is not a waste of time, but it is wrong to build up hope for this meeting."

Hussein's Twitter account has expressed more doubts about the meeting.

#Syria: The #Geneva conf. will fail to solve the crisis, it is only held to manage it.@TayyarSyria

— Louay Hussein (@HusseinLouay) June 28, 2012

#Syria: all we hope from the upcoming Geneva conf. is a pledge from the regional countries to stop arming anti-regime parties.@TayyarSyria

— Louay Hussein (@HusseinLouay) June 28, 2012

Rim Turkmani, a British-based spokeswoman for the Building the Syrian State group, said the priority should be ending the violence in Syria.

We think the Annan initiative hasn't achieved much. They have to achieve a ceasefire first before going into the politics. How can you do all this politics when the fighting is escalating?

We know exactly what they have done about the ceasefire. We were part of the meetings on the ground. We are in constant communication with them. We don't think they did enough, they should have done much more to achieve a ceasefire. They didn't prepare for it enough. We think they should have another serious try at a ceasefire.

She added: "There has to be a political move, but the regime is not ready for it."

3.29pm: Syria: The UN refugee agency has doubled its forecast for the number of refugees who will flee Syria this year to 185,000 and says it will need more than twice as much money as previously thought.

In Geneva today, the UNHCR and more than 40 other humanitarian aid organisations appealed for urgent new funds to help meet the needs of growing numbers of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq.

They had originally appealed in March for $84.1m, but now say increasing numbers of refugees mean $193m will now be needed.

In the last three months, humanitarian agencies in neighbouring countries have been registering an average of more than 500 Syrian refugees a day.

2.37pm: Syria: Iranian state TV is promising an interview with President Assad later today. Hopefully, it will not suffer the same fate as the Fars News "interview" with Egypt's president-elect (see 10.32am).

#Iran state TV scheduled to air interview w #Syria ruler Bashar Assad today at 1700 GMT

— Borzou Daragahi (@borzou) June 28, 2012

2.05pm: Syria: The blast in the car park at the court building in Damascus today appears to have been fairly small. The government news agency Sana (in Arabic) says it was caused by "an explosive device affixed to a car" owned by a Damascus woman. Twenty cars are said to have been damaged, though photographs suggest the buildings nearby are relatively intact.

Although initial reports said there were three devices, one of which failed to explode, Sana now says the second explosion occurred when the petrol tank of a neighbouring car caught fire.

AFP cites a police source as saying the bombs were of a magnetic type attached to two judges' cars.

Sana has made no mention of any deaths but says three people were injured.

The incident was in central Damascus, close to the famous Hamidiyya market.

1.44pm: Syria: A senior Hamas figure has reportedly been killed at his home in Damascus. It is unclear whether this has any connection with the current turmoil in Syria; Hamas is blaming the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad.

Harriet Sherwood, the Guardian's reporter in Jerusalem, writes:

Kamel Ranaja, who died on Wednesday night, was reported to be a deputy to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in a Dubai hotel in 2010.

The Mossad was widely believed to be behind that assassination. It caused an international furore after Israeli agents were accused of using stolen passports cloned from British, Irish and other citizens to mount the operation.

A Hamas official told AFP that "a group of people entered the home of Kamel Ranaja, and killed him. According to information that we have gathered, the Mossad is behind the attack".

1.05pm: Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

• The main court building in the capital Damascus has been hit by at least two explosions. State TV blamed terrorists for the blasts and reported that three people were injured.

• Turkish military convoys have been deployed close to the Syrian border, as tension continues over the shooting down of a Turkish jet last week. The convoy included anti aircraft guns.

• Russia has been sending out mixed signals about whether it would support Kofi Annan's idea of a transition to a national unity government set to be discussed in crisis talks in Geneva this Saturday. Diplomats claim Russia has hinted at support for excluding President Bashar al-Assad from such government. But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the talks were about establishing a ceasefire and should no predetermine the shape of a possible government of national unity.

• The opposition Syrian National Council said it would not support the idea of a unity government if it only involved the removal of Assad from power. Khalid Saleh executive member of SNC told the Guardian: "Getting rid of Assad is not enough. We have a group of people that surround him that directs the military operations that committed atrocities against civilians. It is definitely not just about Assad by himself."

• A Russian official has confirmed that three repaired attack helicopters are ready to be delivered on time to Syria, RIA Novosti reports. "Syria is our friend, and we we fulfil all our obligations to our friends. According to the 2008 contract, we repaired three Mi-25s and are ready to deliver them on time," said Alexander Fomin, director of the federal service for military technical co-operation.

Egypt

• Egypt is threatening legal action against Iran's Fars News over what it claims is a fake interview with president-elect Mohamed Morsi. Fars released an audio clip from the alleged interview but there are claims that the voice in the recording is not Morsi's.

• Prominent activists, including Wael Ghonim, have met President-elect Mohamed Morsi to discuss how he can implement the goals of the revolution, the Egypt Independent reports. Meanwhile, a close associate of reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei has denied that the Nobel laureate was offered the job of prime minister, according to Ahram online.

Libya/Tunisia

• The lawyer acting for Libya's former prime minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, who was extradited to Tripoli from Tunisia at the weekend, claims his client has been tortured. Libya's government denied he had been mistreated. Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, has branded the extradition illegal, saying it was done behind his back. Mahmoudi's extradition has sparked a political crisis in Tunisia, pitting parliament against the president. Government officials insist the extradition came after it was ensured Libya could guarantee a fair trial. They say they did not need presidential permission for the move to return him.

Bahrain

• The prominent Bahraini human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, has been freed after three weeks in detention, the BBC reports. Rajab was detained on 6 June on suspicion of using social networking websites to publicly insult residents of a Sunni-dominated district for their ties to the royal family. After his release he pledged to "keep defending the people's rights".

12.45pm: Oman: Eleven activists detained during a peaceful protest earlier this month have been released on bail but four others charged with making "defamatory" comments will remain in custody, lawyers have told Reuters.

Police rounded up at least 22 people outside a Muscat police station two weeks ago during a demonstration calling for the release of activists who had criticised the government's response to their demands. Most were charged with demonstrating illegally and disrupting traffic.

Other suspects arrested in their homes were accused of publishing statements insulting public officials.

Defence lawyers said they had asked the court to dismiss the case because the detainees had been questioned without lawyers being present, in violation of Omani law.

12.14pm: Syria: "Getting rid of Assad is not enough," to secure the diplomatic breakthrough Kofi Annan is hoping for, a senior member of the opposition Syrian National Council told the Guardian.

Khalid Saleh executive member of SNC said Annan's proposal for a unity government would have to involve a clear out of Assad's inner circle, to get the backing of the opposition in and outside Syria.

Speaking from Turkey he said:

We are still not very clear on the details of this unity government. If the implication is that Assad would remain in power, or the gangs around him will still be involved, the forces of the revolution on the ground, which matters the most, have made it very clear that this is not an acceptable proposition. This would also not be acceptable to the SNC.

If Assad and the people who have blood on their hands are stepping aside and being held accountable, this is definitely something we would at least consider.

Getting rid of Assad is not enough. We have a group of people that surround him that directs the military operations that committed atrocities against civilians. It is definitely not just about Assad by himself.

We always welcome solutions to the bloodshed. But Assad has made his position clear over the last 18 months. I don't expect a real diplomatic breakthrough at this point.

Asked about the deployment of Turkish troops and weapons near the Syrian border, Saleh said:

Any form of military build up in Turkey will create some pressure on Assad. I'm not sure there are actual plans to create a safe zone [which is] something we have asked for since the early days of the SNC. We are waiting for the international community to really step up and take on the role of protecting the civilian population in Syria.

The defection rate [in the Syrian military] has increased tremendously in the last three or four weeks. Assad is in no way, shape or form able to respond to any international military whether it is the Turkish [military] or otherwise.

Over the last three days the Syrian army has been trying to capture the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, the Saleh's contacts in the area claimed.

As the troops entered the city, large numbers were defecting. Four hundred people defected. They have stopped sending forces to the city, because the moment they are away from their command units they are defecting.

We are amazed by the number of defections taking place lately. About 80% are from the lower ranks, but we also have senior ranks. Not upwards of generals, but the people running some of those units.

Earlier this week, former SNC leader Burnhan Ghalioun travelled into north-west Syria to meet rebel fighters. Asked about the trip, Saleh said:

It was significant in many different ways. It boosted the morale and showed the weakness of Assad. I like what one of the supporters of Assad said. He was like 'oh my God, we have two countries inside of Syria. I didn't recognise how bad the situation is for the Syrian government'.

The day after [Ghalioun's] visit there were large protests celebrating his visit. The morale is very high in those areas. People were glad to see members of the SNC on the ground.

We have members of the SNC going in and out continuously. We are communicating with the FSA [Free Syrian Army], and the revolutionary forces on the ground.

Saleh said both diplomatic and military activity was putting pressure on Assad.

He's getting a lot weaker. Assad understands that at this point any political solution means that he has to leave. Him and the gangs around him. That is scaring him tremendously. He is not able to accept a diplomatic solution, he is not able to deal with the FSA. So he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Our biggest challenge when it comes to the military council, is not about co-ordination and organisation. Our biggest challenge is to get quality weapons that are able to respond to tanks, and air force.

11.53am: Syria: Russia Today, citing Syrian TV, says "a third explosive device" which failed to detonate has been found in Damascus.

The government news agency, Sana, now has some photos of wrecked cars in the Palace of Justice car park. Sana says three people were injured.

Syrian TV has also broadcast images from the scene. So far, there are no reports of any deaths.

11.28am: Syria: Reports are now suggesting a double explosion in Damascus. A photo posted on Facebook appears to show smoke rising from the scene.

The video above, filmed from a distance, shows smoke drifting across Damascus.

Another photo (of a TV report) shows burning cars. A tweet also talks of damaged cars:

✩ Syrian Commando ✩ @syriancommando BREAKING: 18 cars damaged in total, 7 burnt down completely. #Syria #Damascus

— Resistentia (@SyriaNews_cc) June 28, 2012

11.15am: Syria: State TV is reporting a "terrorist explosion" in a car park of the Palace of Justice in Damascus. The Associated Press says "thick black smoke is seen rising over the city".

10.32am: Egypt: An allegedly faked interview in which President-elect Morsi promised to improve relations with Iran seems to be having the opposite effect to what was intended. Egypt is now threatening legal action against Fars News which claimed to have interviewed Morsi, Ahram Online reports.

Fars News is linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards controlled by supreme leader Ali Khamenei. It released an audio clip from the alleged interview but there are claims that the voice in the recording is not Morsi's.

The remarks in the alleged interview were widely reported, causing particular alarm in Israel.

10.23am: Syria: So much for hints that Russia will back a unity government without Assad. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov (left) has weighed in to reject such talk, Reuters reports:

Multilateral talks on UN envoy Kofi Annan's Syrian mediation plan should seek to bring about a ceasefire but not predetermine the shape of a possible government of national unity, Russia said on Thursday.

"The meeting in Geneva was intended to support Kofi Annan's plan and it must set the conditions for the end of violence and the start of an all-Syrian national dialogue, and not predetermine the contents of this dialogue," foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a briefing.

Lavrov also said it was a mistake not to include Iran at the Syria talks, to be held in Geneva on Saturday.

10.12am: Syria: Activists and opposition groups are sceptical about Annan's proposal of a national unity government in Syria.

Samir Nashar, an executive member of the international Syrian National Council, said the plan should be more explicit about Assad's departure. He said:

The proposal is still murky to us but I can tell you that if it does not clearly state that Assad must step down, it will be unacceptable to us.

The British-based Syrian writer Rana Kabbani tweets:

Unity government? Another piece of #UN tomfoolery 2 give #Assad more time 2 kill. Can someone muzzle #KofiAnnan? #Syria is sick of him!

— Rana Kabbani (@RanaKabbani54) June 28, 2012

A US-based Syrian tweeted:

Dear Kofi Annan, your suggestions for #Syria have all been a fail. No, we are not going to work with people whose hands are stained w/ blood

— Jana FreeSyria (@SYRIAslyJana) June 28, 2012

10.01am: Bahrain: Faced with a steady flow of activist videos showing brutality against protesters, Bahrain's police have now joined the YouTube war.

The video above is said to show houses being raided in a search for explosives. Possibly this is one of the ideas from former London police chief John Yates who has been advising the Bahraini government on police reform.

In an interview with the Guardian last April, Yates cited YouTube as evidence that suspects were not being tortured between their arrest and their arrival at a police station. He said:

There's allegations that people are arrested and not taken to the police station but go to these holding sites where allegedly terrible things happen. But that would be on YouTube. That would be posted.

The video was also shown at a news conference yesterday when the chief of public security announced that more than five tonnes of "explosive material and 110 litres of chemicals" had been seized.

9.48am: Syria: Three diplomats have told Bloomberg that Russia has endorsed Kofi Annan's plan for political transition in Syria.

The agency says this is a sign that Bashar al-Assad has lost the support of a key ally.

Bloomberg says it has seen a copy of Annan's plans for a unity government which appears to deliberately fudge the issue of whether Assad will be involved in the proposed unity government.

The Annan document, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News, says a transitional government may include members of Assad's government and opposition and other groups, although not "those whose continued presence and participation would undermine the credibility of the transition and jeopardize stability and reconciliation."

It adds:

The shift by Russia, which until now has shielded Assad with UN security council vetoes, could be the beginning of the end to a lengthy stalemate over how to halt the escalating violence. In February, Russia resisted Annan's first effort to map a transition.

Even with the apparent international agreement, ushering Assad out and a transitional government in will be difficult, if it's possible at all, the US and UN officials acknowledged.

Among the difficulties, the US officials said, will be bringing the warring Syrian parties together to reach an agreement on a transitional government; defining who would control Syria's military, intelligence and security services; neutralizing the Alawite militias and the armed opposition; and providing multinational aid to encourage a transition toward elections.

9.20am: Syria/Turkey: State TV in Turkey says anti-aircraft weapons are being deployed along the Syrian border after the shooting down by Syria of a Turkish jet last Friday.

AP said:

TRT television says several anti-aircraft guns have been positioned the border on Thursday.

Turkey has warned Damascus that it would not tolerate any violation of the border by Syrian forces.

Private Dogan news agency also showed footage of a military convoy, including one multiple rocket launcher, heading toward the Syrian border.

Turkish journalist Mahir Zeynalov tweeted an image of a military convoy heading towards the border.

Long military convoy, including tanks and jammers, are now headed to Turkish province of Kilis on Syrian border yfrog.com/es6jzzhj

— Mahir Zeynalov (@MahirZeynalov) June 28, 2012

A Turkish official has confirmed the deployment of troops along the border, Reuters reports.

"I can confirm there are troops being deployed along the border in Hatay province. Turkey is taking precautions after its jet was shot down," the official said on condition of anonymity.

8.29am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live.

Russia is keeping diplomats guessing on whether it will back a proposed unity government in Syria that excludes President Bashar al-Assad.

Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

• Russia has hinted that it will support Kofi Annan's idea of a Syrian national unity cabinet that could exclude president Bashar al-Assad. The idea will be discussed at a crisis meeting in Geneva on Saturday. The proposed coalition does not explicitly exclude Assad but suggests as much, a diplomat told Reuters. But another diplomat said Russia's acceptance of Annan's proposal did not mean it has abandoned Assad. "I don't see the Russians giving up on Assad," he said.

• A Russian official has confirmed that three repaired attack helicopters are ready to be delivered on time to Syria, RIA Novosti reports. "Syria is our friend, and we we fulfil all our obligations to our friends. According to the 2008 contract, we repaired three Mi-25s and are ready to deliver them on time," said Alexander Fomin, director of the federal service for military technical co-operation.

• Annan invited the five permanent members of the UN security council with Turkey and three Arab states to the Geneva conference, but excluded Iran and Saudi Arabia to secure the participation of the US and Russia, writes Ian Black.

The novelty of this event will be participation by Russia and China, which have vetoed action against Assad at the UN and shunned the western-Arab Friends of Syria grouping on the grounds that it is working against the Assad regime.

It is unclear, however, whether Moscow will accept the western view that Assad must step aside in favour of a transitional national unity government. Russia has always insisted it would not countenance regime change in Damascus.

• Nobody is expecting the meeting of Annan's action group to make much difference, according to Tony Karon in Time magazine.

The parties that will meet with Assad in Geneva have different ideas on resolving the crisis, but none appears to have decisive leverage to bring to bear in order to shape its preferred outcome. The US insists that the conflict can't be resolved while Assad remains in power; the Russians point out that Washington has no credible plan for dealing with the fallout that would follow the regime's precipitous collapse. For much of the past year, officials in Washington have speculated that Russia might break with Assad, but the passage of time has made those claims look Pollyannaish.

• The Syrian government said armed gunmen stormed a television station in a suburb of Damascus, killing seven people, but opposition fighters said the attackers were military defectors, the New York Times reports.

Rebels disputed the official account of the attack, saying the killers were defectors from Syria's elite Republican Guard, considered the most loyal core of defenders of Assad's inner circle. If the rebel version is confirmed, the attack would constitute a significant breach of security for those close to Assad, who said on Tuesday that Syria was now in "a state of war."

Libya/Tunisia

• The lawyer acting for Libya's former prime minister Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, who was extradited to Tripoli from Tunisia at the weekend, claims his client has been tortured. Libya's government denied he had been mistreated. Tunisia's president, Moncef Marzouki, has branded the extradition illegal, saying it was done behind his back. Mahmoudi's extradition has sparked a political crisis in Tunisia, pitting parliament against the president. Government officials insist the extradition came after it was ensured Libya could guarantee a fair trial. They say they did not need presidential permission for the move to return him.

Egypt

• Prominent activists, including Wael Ghonim, have met President-elect Mohamed Morsi to discuss how he can implement the goals of the revolution, the Egypt Independent reports. Meanwhile, a close associate of reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei has denied that the Nobel laureate was offered the job of prime minister, according to Ahram online.

Bahrain

• The prominent Bahraini human rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, has been freed after three weeks in detention, the BBC reports. Rajab was detained on 6 June on suspicion of using social networking websites to publicly insult residents of a Sunni-dominated district for their ties to the royal family. After his release he pledged to "keep defending the people's rights".

East of country demands more representation, while southern tribe threatens to boycott first nationwide vote since 1960s

Libyan protesters and militiamen stormed the headquarters of the election commission in the eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday, setting voting slips on fire, a militia commander said, a week before the country holds its first general election in nearly five decades.

In southern Libya, a leader of the Tabu tribe threatened to boycott the election if the government does not withdraw its forces and tanks from the desert city of Kufra where clashes have killed dozens.

The violence and calls for boycotts threaten to tarnish the process of electing a 200-member assembly to form a government and oversee writing of a constitution.

In Benghazi, where the revolt that unseated Muammar Gaddafi began last year, Fadallah Haroun, commander of a former rebel militia, said he joined protesters in the attack on the election commission. This came after the ruling transitional council in Tripoli turned down demands to give the east an equal share of seats in the assembly. He said two other cities in eastern Libya have witnessed similar incidents.

"We want justice," Haroun said. "We lost tens of thousands of martyrs because we want a state built on justice, law and equal rights."

As the situation stands, Tripoli and western Libya would have 102 seats, while the oil-rich east's share would be 60. The rest would go to the sparsely populated south. Eastern leaders say this leaves them with no influence over drafting of the constitution.

The 7 July vote will be the country's first nationwide election since the 1960s. Gaddafi, who ruled for 42 years, banned political parties and elections.

Benghazi, the largest city in eastern Libya, suffered marginalisation under the Gaddafi regime. In March, leaders and commanders held a meeting to discuss plans for semi-autonomous rule in the east. The transitional council accused them of trying to split the country into mini-states.

In the south, Tabu leader Issa Abdel-Majid told Associated Press his tribe, which is of African origin, will not vote if government troops continue to deploy tanks, anti-aircraft missiles and snipers against Tabu fighters battling a rival Arab tribe, Zwia, in Kufra. He said dozens of Tabu civilians have been killed and homes destroyed in the clashes.

Neither government officials nor groups such as the Red Cross, which has previously helped evacuate the wounded from Kufra, could confirm the number of people killed in the latest round of fighting over the past week.

Armed clashes have erupted several times over the last few months, leaving dozens killed and injured, mainly among the Tabu, the original inhabitants of southern Libya who were heavily suppressed under Gaddafi.

Abdel-Majid said his tribe wants an international peacekeeping force to be stationed in Kufra and for Tabu representatives to be given seats in the country's cabinet. "If our demands are not met, we are boycotting the elections," he said.

Amnesty International's Libya researcher Diana el-Tahawy said the government failed to send a fact-finding mission to Kufra to determine who was behind attacks and compensate victims after clashes killed more than 100 in February. Unresolved disputes have boiled over since. "The [government] is either unwilling or unable to control these militias," she said.