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is dramatically escalating the conflict <br>• Crisis has reached civil war says UN peacekeeping chief <br>• Rebels flee al-Haffa after monitors blocked <br>• Tunisia's ex-dictator Ben Ali given 20-year sentence <br> <br> <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-31">• Read the latest summary</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="content"> <div id="article-wrapper" class="trackable-component " data-component="Article:in body link"> <div id="main-content-picture" itemscope itemprop="image" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/6/13/1339572319375/Russian-Mi-24-helicopter--008.jpg" width="460" height="276" alt="Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships" itemprop="contentUrl representativeOfPage" data-pin-description="File picture of a Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships. Hillary Clinton accused Russia of shipping a new batch of attack helicopters to Syria. Photograph: Maxim Marmur/AP "> <div class="caption" itemprop="caption"> File picture of a Russian Mi-24 helicopter gunships. Hillary Clinton accused Russia of shipping a new batch of attack helicopters to Syria. Photograph: Maxim Marmur/AP </div> </div> <div id="article-body-blocks">  <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/04/09/recap1.gif" alt="Live blog: recap" width="40" height="40"> </span> <p id="block-31"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-31" class="block-link" title="Link to update 31">4.55pm:</a></span> Here's a summary of the latest developments:</p> <h2>Syria</h2> <p>• <strong>Both the Syrian government and opposition activists have disputed an assertion by the UN's peacekeeping chief that the Syrian conflict has descended into a civil war.</strong> Activists said the term "civil war" suggests an equivalence between the two sides and ignores massacres committed by the regime. The Syrian foreign ministry said: "Talk of civil war in Syria is not consistent with reality ... <a href="//www.trust.org/alertnet/news/syria-not-in-civil-war-foreign-ministry/">What is happening in Syria is a war against armed groups that choose terrorism."</a></p> <p>• <strong>Future humanitarian aid missions in Syria are in doubt following today's attack on an aid convoy which injured three workers near Idlib, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned</strong> (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-30">see 4.01pm</a>).</p> <p>• <strong>British foreign secretary William Hague told reporters he will be meeting Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in an effort to persuade Russia to use its influence with Syria to implement Kofi Annan's tattered peace plan</strong> (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-29">see 3.48pm</a>). Meanwhile, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius has said a no-fly zone should be an option under discussion. </p> <p>• <strong>The Syrian foreign ministry has invited UN monitors to inspect al-Haffa now that it has been "cleared" of terrorists. Yesterday the monitors were chased away by Assad's supporters; now they are being asked to return by the foreign ministry</strong> (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-23">see 2.18pm</a>).</p> <p>• <strong>US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Russia was <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/jun/13/syria-helicopters-russia-hillary-clinton-video">shipping attack helicopters</a> to the Assad regime and lying about weapons deliveries.</strong> Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov hit back, accusing the US of supplying the rebels with weapons (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-22">see 2.03pm</a>).</p> <p>• <strong>Turkey is witnessing a sharp increase in Syrian refugees after rebels fled the besieged town of al-Haffa near its southern border.</strong>A foreign ministry official claimed that 2,000 Syrians had fled in the last 48-hours (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-14">see 11.29am</a>). </p> <h2>Tunisia </h2> <p>• <strong>A Tunisian military court has sentenced the ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/13/tunisian-court-sentences-ben-ali">20 years in jail</a> in his absence for inciting violence during a police attempt to smuggle his nephew out of the country during last year's revolt.</strong> Saudi Arabia, where Ben Ali fled to, is not expected to extradite him.</p> <h2>Egypt</h2> <p>• <strong>Hosni Mubarak fears doctors are trying to kill him, according to his lawyer. </strong> Farid el-Deeb quoted his client as as saying: "I'm uncomfortable and I don't feel safe. I feel they are ordered to kill me."</p>  <p id="block-30"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-30" class="block-link" title="Link to update 30">4.01pm:</a></span> Future humanitarian aid missions in Syria are in doubt following today's attack on an aid convoy which injured three workers near Idlib, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned.</p> <p>Following the attack (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-27">see 3.30pm</a>), a spokesman said: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>This kind of incident is completely unacceptable. It comes at a moment when the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) are the only organisations able to deliver assistance on the ground, despite the increasing security problems. </p> <p>This incident may put at risk the only humanitarian action taking place in the country at a moment when the needs are steadily increasing. </p> <p>The ICRC and the SARC take such incidents extremely seriously. We will continue our work but we will have to review the situation on the ground accordingly. The safety of the ICRC and SARC teams is vital for us to be able to continue to help those in need. </p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-29"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-29" class="block-link" title="Link to update 29">3.48pm:</a></span> More diplomatic huffing and puffing on Syria. </p> <p>William Hague told reporters in Kabul that "Syria is on the edge of a collapse or of a deadly sectarian civil war," and that he will be holding another meeting with Lavrov to try to persuade Russia to use its influence with Syria to implement Kofi Annan's tattered peace plan.</p> <p>Hague said he will hold talks with Lavrov on the sidelines of today's conference on Afghanistan. </p> <p>Meanwhile, Reuters quotes French foreign minister Laurent Fabius saying that a no-fly zone should be an option under discussion. </p> <p>He said: "We propose making the implementation of the Annan plan compulsory. We need to pass to the next speed at the Security Council and place the Annan plan under Chapter 7 - that is to say make it compulsory under pain of very heavy sanctions." </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>France would propose toughening sanctions on Syria at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers, he said. </p> <p>He said the international community would prepare a list of second-ranking military officials who would be pursued by international justice, alongside President Bashar al-Assad and his immediate entourage. </p> <p>"They must understand that the only future is in resisting oppression. The time for taking a decision has arrived. They have to jump ship," Fabius said</p> </blockquote> <p>.</p>  <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/3/4/1299240664266/sultan-qaboos-oman-002.jpg" alt="sultan qaboos oman" width="140" height="130" data-pin-description="Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/EPA"> <span class="caption" style="width: 140px;"> Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/EPA </span> </span> <p id="block-28"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-28" class="block-link" title="Link to update 28">3.34pm:</a></span> <strong>Oman:</strong> Twenty-two peaceful protesters and nine online activists and writers <a href="//www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/13/oman-assault-freedom-speech">have been arrested</a> so far this month, Human Rights Watch says.</p> <p>Most of the arrests followed a statement by Muscat's public prosecutor on 4 June, threatening to take "all appropriate legal measures" against activists who have made "inciting calls … under the pretext of freedom of expression".</p> <p>"Omani activists are speaking out about broken promises for government reform," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of listening, Omani authorities are arresting and prosecuting them to silence them."</p> <p>Oman's autocratic ruler. Sultan Qaboos (pictured), was installed through a British-orchestrated coup in 1970.</p>  <p id="block-27"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-27" class="block-link" title="Link to update 27">3.30pm:</a></span> The International Committee of the Red Cross says three aid workers suffered minor injuries in Syria when an explosion hit their convoy, AP reports. </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The group says the two Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers and one ICRC staff member were travelling with other aid workers from Aleppo to Idlib when the blast hit their marked vehicles Wednesday.</p> <p>A spokesman for the ICRC in Geneva says the aid workers were taken to a medical facility and that their injuries are minor.</p> <p>Hicham Hassan told The Associated Press that it is the first time Red Cross staffers have been injured since the start of violence in Syria last year.</p> <p>He says the ICRC doesn't know if it was targeted in the explosion or who was responsible for it.</p> </blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, the UN's humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, has expressed alarm about the continuing violence.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>I'm very worried about the violence in <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Syria">#Syria</a> and its effect on people - trying to get more help in asap.</p> <p>— Valerie Amos (@ValerieAmos) <a href="https://twitter.com/ValerieAmos/status/212910862728560640" data-datetime="2012-06-13T14:14:40+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-26"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-26" class="block-link" title="Link to update 26">2.55pm:</a></span> The <a href="//hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SYRIA_DIPLOMACY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">French foreign minister has backed Ladsous's assessment that Syria has descended into civil war</a>, according to breaking wire reports.</p> <p>"If you can't call it a civil war, then there are no words to describe it," he told reporters.</p> <p>Reuters quoted Laurent Fabius also expressing hope that Russia will support chapter seven action at the UN security council, which could lead to the use of military force in Syria.</p> <p>The prospect of that appears to be extremely remote. </p> <p>RIA Novosti quotes more of foreign minister <a href="//en.rian.ru/russia/20120613/174007332.html?">Sergei Lavrov's retaliation against US accusation that Russia is escalating the conflict</a>.</p> <p>It quoted him saying: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>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. But for some reason the Americans consider this to be fine.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-25"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-25" class="block-link" title="Link to update 25">2.52pm:</a></span> "We're going to war with Syria," <a href="//www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/13/we-re-going-to-war-with-syria.html">says Michael Tomasky</a> in the Daily Beast – though perhaps not just yet. Referring to <a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre">the Hama massacre of 1982</a> where thousands died, he writes:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p><br>I don't believe that we live in a world anymore where a Hama can happen and the western powers do nothing. More than 14,000 have died in Syria so far, says the anti-government Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.</p> <p>The difference between that and Hama is that the current slaughter is happening slowly. But one of these days, and perhaps wth the aid of Russian attack helicopters, the regime will really cut loose. And the west will have to do ... something. </p> </blockquote> <p>Tomasky goes on to say that "some version of war is looking more and more inevitable to me". He doesn't expect it to happen before the US presidential election, "but get ready for the march to Damascus, or at least bombs over Damascus, in 2013".</p>  <p id="block-24"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-24" class="block-link" title="Link to update 24">2.44pm:</a></span> Photojournalist <a href="//lightbox.time.com/2012/06/13/as-syria-grieves-photographs-by-nicole-tung/#ixzz1xgGngRsD">Nicole Tung's graphic account and photo essay on the victims of shelling in Maarret Naaman, in Idlib province</a>, has been published in Time.</p> <p>Tung, who gave the <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/11/syria-crisis-snc-urges-defections#block-10">Guardian an audio of account of what she saw earlier this week</a>, wrote:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The shelling momentarily ceased. It was now 1 am as we arrived at a mosque where locals had placed six of the dead in white sheets. The main hospital was under the control of the army, and there was no refrigeration or city morgue. The mortars had reduced the contents of the sheets to nothing but piles of civilian, human flesh—unrecognisable except for a single hand and one somewhat intact body.</p> <p>I looked for a minute, began photographing, and then felt my stomach turn. The bodies were covered in chalk and large blocks of ice and water bottles were placed between the limbs. "They were just coming out of the mosque after evening prayers," one local man screamed. "And that's when the mortars killed them." Even in the darkness of the mosque, streaks of blood could be seen, almost as if a giant red paint brush had been run across the floor.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-23"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-23" class="block-link" title="Link to update 23">2.18pm:</a></span> The Syrian foreign ministry has invited <a href="//sana.sy/eng/21/2012/06/13/425141.htm?">UN monitors to inspect al-Haffa now that its been "cleared" of terrorists</a>.</p> <p>Yesterday the monitors were chased away by Assad's supporters, now they are being asked to return by the foreign ministry.</p> <p>The state news agency Sana quotes an official calling on the observers to go an inspect the damage done by terrorists in the town.</p> <p>It said: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Authorities have restored security and clam to al-Haffeh district after clearing it from the armed terrorist groups which terrorized citizens and sabotaged several public and private properties.</p> <p>The authorities also seized huge amounts of advanced weapons used by armed terrorist groups, including sniper rifles, explosive devices, RPG launchers and a large amount of ammunition.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-22"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-22" class="block-link" title="Link to update 22">2.03pm:</a></span> Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has hit back at his US counterpart Hillary Clinton by <a href="//www.cnbc.com/id/47795532">accusing the US of supplying the rebels with weapons</a>. </p> <p>Speaking at a news conference in Iran he said Russian arms contracts to Syria were not violating any international law.</p> <p>He added: "They (the United States) are providing arms and weapons to the Syrian opposition that can be used in fighting against the Damascus government." </p> <p>Cartoonist Carlos Latuff depicts the Syrian conflict as a proxy war between US and Russia.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Cartoon">#Cartoon</a> for @<a href="https://twitter.com/Operamundi">Operamundi</a> – <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Syria">#Syria</a>, the Apotheosis of Barbarism <a href="//t.co/wFe5a2ed" title="http://twitpic.com/9vmfm5">twitpic.com/9vmfm5</a></p> <p>— Carlos Latuff (@CarlosLatuff) <a href="https://twitter.com/CarlosLatuff/status/212671624388943872" data-datetime="2012-06-12T22:24:01+00:00">June 12, 2012</a></p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-21"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-21" class="block-link" title="Link to update 21">1.21pm:</a></span> The UN's supervision mission in Syria has broadcast footage of its <a href="//youtu.be/na3bedRFjVE">bullet-riddled vehicles that were shot at after a team of monitors was prevented from visiting the besieged town of al-Haffa</a>.</p> <span class="inline embed embed-media"> <iframe width="460" height="259" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/na3bedRFjVE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </span> <p>The cars were fired at three times, spokeswoman Sausan Ghoshen said in the clip.</p> <p>The footage came with this commentary:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The vehicles of United Nations military observers were stoned and hit my metal rods by angry crowd as they were trying to reach al-Haffa on 12 June. The UN observers turned back. As they were leaving the area, three vehicles heading towards Idlib were fired upon. The source of fire is still unclear. The UN observers have been trying to enter al-Haffa since 7 June.</p> </blockquote> <p>Government forces have since taken control of the al-Haffa after rebels fled the town overnight. </p> <p>Footage of <a href="//youtu.be/I73EyNw_Pnw">pro-Assad supporters attacking the UN's convoy</a> has also emerged (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-12">see 11.02am</a>).</p>  <p id="block-20"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-20" class="block-link" title="Link to update 20">12.59pm:</a></span> <strong>Egypt:</strong> The condition of Hosni Mubarak has shown a "slight" improvement though he is refusing prison food, AP reports citing security officials.</p> <p>The officials at Torah prison where the ex-president is serving his life sentence say he ate yogurt and drank juice today and is being given liquids and vitamins intravenously.</p>  <p id="block-19"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-19" class="block-link" title="Link to update 19">12.49pm:</a></span> <strong>Bahrain:</strong> Information affairs minister Samira Rajab has called for "tough new laws to combat the misuse of social media" in order to "guarantee the safety of the state and residents", <a href="//www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=331984">the Gulf Daily News reports</a>.</p> <p>Blaming unrest in Bahrain on "irresponsible use of such media", she said:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p><br>We have a right to punish those who indulge in seditious behaviour and create disunity among the people.</p> <p>We have to think of how to protect our national security. We have these new threats and we have to see how we can tackle those threats. </p> </blockquote> <p>Ms Rajab, who was appointed a minister earlier this year, previously supported the armed insurgency in Iraq (according to <a href="//www.cablegatesearch.net/search.php?q=Samira+Rajab&qo=16896&qc=0&qto=2010-02-28">a WikiLeaks document</a>) and <a href="//www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/0425/After-Formula-One-scrutiny-Bahrain-hires-a-fan-of-Saddam-Hussein-to-improve-its-image">described Saddam Hussain</a> as a "freedom fighter" and <a href="//www.al-moharer.net/moh253/sameera_rajab253.htm">a martyr</a>.</p>  <p id="block-18"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-18" class="block-link" title="Link to update 18">12.39pm:</a></span> Syrian state TV has <a href="//twitter.com/AP/statuses/212868863203868672">confirmed that government forces have taken control of al-Haffa in north west Syria,</a> after rebels fled the town overnight. </p> <p>The state broadcaster used ominous language, according to Reuters.</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Syrian forces have cleared "terrorist" fighters from the town of Haffeh, state television said on Wednesday, after a week of heavy fighting which led the United States to warn of a potential massacre.</p> <p>Syrian television said the forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had restored calm and security in al-Haffa after they "cleansed it of armed terrorist groups", a term authorities use to describe rebels fighting Assad.</p> <p>The rebels said on Tuesday they had withdrawn from al-Haffa under pressure of heavy bombardment.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-17"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-17" class="block-link" title="Link to update 17">12.28pm:</a></span> Is Syria in a state of civil war or not? asks Ian Black.</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/contributor/2007/10/02/ian_black_60x60.jpg" alt="Ian Black" width="60" height="60"> </span> <p>The statement by Herve Ladsous, the UN's head of peacekeeping operations that it is has been rejected out of hand by both the opposition and the government - casting interesting light on how they perceive a conflict which everyone agrees is escalating.</p> <p>The Syrian Revolution General Commission, an opposition body, has complained that the widely-reported comments by the UN's Herve Ladsous "does not reflect the reality and does not represent the Syrian people."</p> <p>The announcement, it said, "makes the killer and the victim equal and ignores all the massacres committed by the Assad regime." It also masked "the real demands of the Syrian people who are only asking for freedom and dignity."</p> <p>There was agreement, for different reasons, from the foreign ministry in Damascus: the remarks by Ladsous, it said, "did not reflect the reality" of what it happening in Syria. That is "war against armed groups that have chosen terrorism." </p> <p>The war of words continues.</p> </blockquote> <p>Here are some more views on the issue from activists and commentators.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>If we are afraid of a civil war we can't continue kidding ourselves.</p> <p>— BSyria (@BSyria) <a href="https://twitter.com/BSyria/status/212869431116840960" data-datetime="2012-06-13T11:30:01+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="212854862210269184"> <p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/hhassan140">hhassan140</a> The regime tries hard to project normalcy & feign legitimacy & inclusiveness. The "civil war" narrative runs contrary to that.</p> <p>— Fadi Mqayed ★★★ (@DSyrer) <a href="https://twitter.com/DSyrer/status/212855943355056130" data-datetime="2012-06-13T10:36:26+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>"@<a href="https://twitter.com/AnonymousSyria">AnonymousSyria</a>: Unless the opposition kills civilians from the other side systematically, it's not a civil war. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Syria">#Syria</a>"</p> <p>— zain (@ZainSyr) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZainSyr/status/212784411559739392" data-datetime="2012-06-13T05:52:11+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="212800142410129408"> <p>@<a href="https://twitter.com/pdanahar">pdanahar</a> an important victory in the 'propaganda war' for the regime is to portray Syrian revolution as a sectarian civil war.</p> <p>— Nadim Shehadi (@Confusezeus) <a href="https://twitter.com/Confusezeus/status/212802167948587009" data-datetime="2012-06-13T07:02:45+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote>  <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/04/09/recap1.gif" alt="Live blog: recap" width="40" height="40"> </span> <p id="block-16"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-16" class="block-link" title="Link to update 16">12.00pm:</a></span> Here's a summary of the latest developments:</p> <h2>Syria</h2> <p>• <strong>Both the Syrian government and opposition activists have disputed an assertion by the UN's peacekeeping chief that the Syrian conflict has descended into a civil war.</strong> Activists said the term 'civil war' suggests an equivalence between the two sides and ignores massacres committed by the regime. The Syrian foreign ministry said: "Talk of civil war in Syria is not consistent with reality... <a href="//www.trust.org/alertnet/news/syria-not-in-civil-war-foreign-ministry/">What is happening in Syria is a war against armed groups that choose terrorism."</a></p> <p>• <strong>Turkey is witnessing a sharp increase in Syrian refugees after rebels fled the besieged town of al-Haffa near its southern border. </strong>A foreign ministry official claimed that 2,000 Syrians had fled in the last 48-hours and a minister expressed alarm about the conflict spreading across the border (<a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/13/syria-civil-war-attack-helicopters-live#block-14">see 11.29am</a>). </p> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/jun/13/syria-helicopters-russia-hillary-clinton-video"><strong>US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Russia was shipping attack helicopters to the Assad regime and lying about weapons deliveries.</strong></a> Russia's state-controlled arms trader claims its deliveries to Syria are in line with international regulations and that it plans to continue shipments. Russia is also printing new bank notes for the ailing Syrian economy, bankers told Reuters. </p> <p>• <a href="//www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-arab-states-arm-rebels-as-un-talks-of-syrian-civil-war-7845026.html"><strong>Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with the implicit support of Turkey's intelligence agency, a unnamed diplomat told the Independent. </strong></a> "There are arms coming in with the knowledge of the Turks," he said. The Syrian National Council, the main umbrella organisation of groups opposed to the regime, vetted the consignment.</p> <h2>Tunisia </h2> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/13/tunisian-court-sentences-ben-ali"><strong>A Tunisian military court has sentenced the ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years in jail in his absence for inciting violence during a police attempt to smuggle his nephew out of the country during last year's revolt.</strong></a> Saudi Arabia, where Ben Ali fled to, is not expected to extradite him.</p> <h2>Egypt</h2> <p>• <strong>Hosni Mubarak fears doctors are trying to kill him, according to his lawyer. </strong> Farid el-Deeb quoted his client as as saying: "I'm uncomfortable and I don't feel safe. I feel they are ordered to kill me."</p>  <p id="block-15"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-15" class="block-link" title="Link to update 15">11.50am:</a></span> <strong>Syria</strong>: Opposition activists and the Syrian government agree on one thing - that the the current crisis is not a civil war.</p> <p>The <a href="//www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=395776053791590&set=a.236384236397440.51555.236339873068543&type=1&theater">Syrian Revolution General Commission issued this statement,</a> after UN peace keeping chief Herve Ladsous agreed that the conflict had descended into a civil war. It said:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The announcement made by the head of the UN monitors today, that Syria has entered in a civil war situation, does not reflect the reality and does not represent the Syrian people. The Syrian people are persevering and remain persistent as they still head down to the streets across Syria, in large numbers, struggling for freedom. </p> <p>This announcement makes the killer and the victim equal and ignores all the massacres committed by the Assad regime. In addition it wipes out and covers the real demands of the Syrian people who are only asking for freedom and dignity.</p> <p>We again assure all that our peaceful revolution and our self-defense will continue until we topple the oppressive and barbaric regime.</p> <p>We will build a new Syria for all, under one banner, uniting all the Syrian people.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-14"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-14" class="block-link" title="Link to update 14">11.29am:</a></span> Turkey is witnessing a sharp increase in refugees after rebels fled the besieged town of al-Haffa near its southern border.</p> <p>A foreign ministry official claimed that 2,000 Syrians had fled in the last 48-hours.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>Some 2,000 Syrian refugees fleeing violence in Syria have crossed into Turkey in last 48 hours-Turkish Foreign Ministry official says <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523syria">#syria</a></p> <p>— AlertNet (@AlertNet) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlertNet/status/212851059297751040" data-datetime="2012-06-13T10:17:01+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote> <p>Earlier deputy foreign minister Naci Koru expressed alarm at the prospect of the crisis spilling over Turkey's borders.</p> <p>The Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted him saying: <a href="//www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-fears-syria-conflict-can-cross-its-borders.aspx?pageID=" 238&nid="23043&NewsCatID=338""">"we are disturbed by the possibility that it could spread to us."</a> </p> <p>It said more than 29,000 Syrians had fled to Turkey since the crisis began.</p> <p>A Turkish journalist reporting from Hatay, where refugee camps are based, tweeted:</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p>More than 1000 Syrian refugees are entering Turkey right now, some are injured</p> <p>— Fixer, Syrian border (@Fixer_Turkey) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fixer_Turkey/status/212839777102348288" data-datetime="2012-06-13T09:32:11+00:00">June 13, 2012</a></p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-13"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-13" class="block-link" title="Link to update 13">11.21am:</a></span> <strong>Syria:</strong> Following the remark from Herve Ladsous, head of the UN's department of peacekeeping operations, that Syria is <a href="//uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/12/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE84S0P320120612">in a state of civil war</a>, the foreign ministry in Damascus has retorted that it is "unrealistic" to describe the conflict as a civil war. </p> <p>Meanwhile, the government news agency says a ministry official <a href="//www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/06/13/424977.htm">has accused the US</a> of "blatant interference in the internal affairs of Syria ... open support for terrorists, covering up terrorists' crimes, distorting facts about Syria at the UN, and extorting countries and the international community to beleaguer Syria." The report continues:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The source said that this was made clear in recent escalatory statements within the past few days which coincided with an escalation carried out by terrorists across Syria who murdered scores of innocents, with the most malicious of these statements being the one made by a spokesperson of the US Department of State in 11/6/2012 in which she voiced her country's concern over the situation in several Syrian cities.</p> <p>In these statements, the spokesperson voiced concern over the possibility of a new massacre taking place in al-Haffeh, and the source noted that this is actually cause for concern over the possibility of armed groups committing such a massacre as indicated by phone calls between armed groups and their leaderships in Turkey.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-12"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-12" class="block-link" title="Link to update 12">11.02am:</a></span> Rebel fighters who fled the north-western town of al-Haffa claim government forces pounded opposition positions with tanks and helicopters. </p> <p><a href="//www.trust.org/alertnet/news/rebels-say-syrian-army-bombing-and-burning-haffeh">Reuters reports</a>: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>"First, helicopters attack the villages, later the tanks attack, and then at the end soldiers enter the houses, loot them and set fire to them," said Mohammad, a 25-year-old fighter who had been shot through the shoulder.</p> <p>At least 50 wounded have been smuggled across the border to Turkey from al-Haffa over the past few days but many more are trapped by fierce fighting and those that try to escape are fired on by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, according to rebels in the southern Turkish province of Hatay.</p> <p>Fayez, another rebel, said: "About 40-50 wounded people have been brought across in the last few days but many more we had to leave there. One woman was wounded and had to be carried for three days. She is now in a hospital in Turkey.</p> <p>"It's becoming really difficult to move the wounded across."</p> </blockquote> <p>Video has also emerged showing <a href="//youtu.be/I73EyNw_Pnw">Assad supporters preventing UN monitors from reaching al-Haffa</a> on Tuesday. </p> <p<span class="inline embed embed-media"> <iframe width="460" height="345" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/I73EyNw_Pnw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> >A spokeswoman for the UN supervision mission in Syria said the <a href="//www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42202&Cr=syria&Cr1=">monitors were fired after they withdrew.</a> <p></p>  <p id="block-11"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-11" class="block-link" title="Link to update 11">10.54am:</a></span> <strong>Syria</strong>: Russia is not only supplying Syria with helicopters but also new bank notes as the Assad regime's economic deficit grows.</p> <p><a href="//www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/13/uk-syria-economy-money-idUKBRE85C0CK20120613">Reuters reports</a>:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Four Damascus-based bankers told Reuters that new banknotes printed in Russia were circulating in trial amounts in the capital and Aleppo, the first such step since a popular revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.</p> <p>The four bankers said the new notes were being used not just to replace worn out currency but to ensure that salaries and other government expenses were paid, a step economists say could increase inflation and worsen the economic crisis.</p> <p>The four bankers, along with one business leader in touch with officials, said the new money had been printed in Russia, although they were not able to give the name of the firm that printed it. Two of the bankers said they had spoken to officials recently returned from Moscow where the issue was discussed.</p> <p>"(The Russians) sent sample new banknotes that were approved and the first order has been delivered. I understand some new banknotes have been injected into the market," said one of the bankers. </p> </blockquote>  <p <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/1/19/1295461943277/Zine-al-Abidine-Ben-Ali-a-002.jpg" alt="Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi" width="140" height="130" data-pin-description="Photograph: Alfred De Montesquiou/AP"> <span class="caption" style="width: 140px;"> Photograph: Alfred De Montesquiou/AP </span> ><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-10" class="block-link" title="Link to update 10">10.50am:</a></span> <strong>Tunisia:</strong> A military court today sentenced ousted dictator Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years in jail in absentia for inciting violence during a police attempt to smuggle his nephew out of the country during last year's revolt.</p> <p id="block-10">Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia, has already been sentenced to decades in jail – also in absentia – on charges ranging from corruption to torture and faces more charges, Reuters reports.</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Last month, a Tunisian military prosecutor demanded that the death penalty be imposed on the former strongman for his role in the deaths of protesters in the towns where the Arab Spring began last year.</p> <p>There is, however, little indication that Riyadh would be willing to extradite Ben Ali.</p> <p>No senior officials have so far been convicted for the deaths of more than 300 people in last year's uprising, angering the families of the dead and raising pressure on the Tunisian government to ensure that justice is done.</p> <p>Tunisia's government has faced persistent criticism over its failure to persuade Saudi Arabia to hand over Ben Ali and his wife Leila Trabelsi, a former hairdresser whose lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives came to be seen by many Tunisians as a symbol of the corrupt era. </p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-9"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-9" class="block-link" title="Link to update 9">10.43am:</a></span> <a href="//www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Jun-13/176691-syria-lashes-out-at-us-over-massacre-remarks-rebels-leave-haffa.ashx?#ixzz1xfI0vaKN">Rebel fighters have pulled out of the besieged town of al-Haffa in north-west Syria</a>, Beirut's Daily Star reports citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>The rebel fighters fled the villages of Zanqufa, Dafil and Bakkas under the cover of night, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing a network of activists on the ground.</p> <p>The withdrawal suggested the regime was poised to retake Haffa, which has been shelled fiercely for days as have nearby villages in the coastal, mountainous province of Latakia. The shelling killed members of two families who had huddled into a house for shelter earlier this week.</p> </blockquote> <p>It is not possible to verify the claim. Yesterday the Observatory said UN observers were prevented from reaching al-Haffa. This was later confirmed by the UN supervision mission.</p>  <p id="block-8"> <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/online/2012/6/12/1339511614162/Colonel-Gaddafi-in-air-fo-001.jpg" alt="Colonel Gaddafi in air force uniform from The Gaddafi Archives, London Festival of Photography" width="140" height="130"> </span> <span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-8" class="block-link" title="Link to update 8">10.26am:</a></span> <strong>Libya</strong>: The Guardian has published <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/jun/13/gaddafi-archives-in-pictures">a selection of photographs seized from Muammar Gaddafi's archives.</a></p> <p>The images are a sample of an <a href="//www.lfph.org/diary/the-gaddafi-archives-libya-before-the-arab-spring">exhibition at the London Festival of Photography</a>. </p> <p><a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/12/muammar-gaddafi-photo-archive-jamahiriya">The archives contain a rich photographic record of Gaddafi's poses, achievements and friends, writes Ian Black</a>. But his hugs of welcome for fellow Arab leaders from Yasser Arafat to Egypt's President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, his hero and inspiration, often masked stormy private relationships.</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Gaddafi's penchant for elaborate military uniforms and powerful allies is combined in a shot of him standing hand-in-hand with the ageing Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1981, at the start of a decade which saw Libyan backing for the IRA and other terrorists, retaliatory US air attacks on Libya as well as the notorious Lockerbie bombing. Years of sanctions followed until Gaddafi finally came in from the cold and shed his pariah status for a brief honeymoon before the Arab spring erupted.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-7"> <span class="inline"> <img src="//static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2012/6/2/1338627160565/A-screen-grab-from-Egypti-002.jpg" alt="A screen grab from Egyptian state TV shows Hosni Mubarak sitting inside a cage in court" width="140" height="130" data-pin-description="Photograph: AFP/Getty Images"> <span class="caption" style="width: 140px;"> Photograph: AFP/Getty Images </span> </span> <span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-7" class="block-link" title="Link to update 7">10.20am:</a></span> <strong>Egypt:</strong> Ex-president Hosni Mubarak fears doctors are trying to kill him, according to his lawyer. The 84-year-old former dictator has been in a prison hospital since receiving a life sentence on 2 June. Before sentencing he had been detained in a military hospital which some reports described as luxurious.</p> <p>Speaking on TV, lawyer Farid el-Deeb said he had asked the authorities to transfer Mubarak back to a military hospital because of his fragile health, AP reports. </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>El-Deeb painted a picture of a paranoid man who does not trust the medical team in the prison and who has at times resisted their instructions ...</p> <p>"Mubarak doesn't trust anyone anymore. He was surprised to find new doctors treating him, not the ones who treated him before, and is afraid to take anything from anyone. He doesn't recognise the faces around him. This is a big problem for him," el-Deeb said.</p> <p>At one point, Mubarak told his lawyer that he fears his doctors are out to kill him.</p> <p>"'Help me Farid,' he said in a very faint voice," el-Deeb quoted Mubarak as saying. "He said: 'I'm uncomfortable and I don't feel safe. I feel they are ordered to kill me'."</p> </blockquote> <p>An article in the New York Times discusses the conflicting reports about Mubarak's health and the politics behind them. Many people, it says, assume the military-led government is doling out sympathetic details in order to <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/world/middleeast/once-illegal-health-rumors-now-have-mubarak-die-daily.html">manipulate public opinion</a>.</p>  <p id="block-6"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-6" class="block-link" title="Link to update 6">10.02am:</a></span> Russia's state-controlled arms trader claims its deliveries to Syria are in line with international regulations and that it plans to continue shipments. </p> <p>The Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Igor Sevastyanov, the deputy head of Rosoboronexport, as saying: "<a href="//en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120612/173985454.html">No one can ever accuse Russia of violating the rules of armaments trade</a> set by the international community." </p> <p>Asked about mobile gun and missile air defence system he added: "The contract was signed long ago and we supply armaments that are self-defence rather than attack weapons, and there can be no talk about any violations by Russia or Rosoboronexport either de jure or de facto."</p> <p>Sevastyanov did not specifically mention attack helicopters.</p>  <p id="block-5"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-5" class="block-link" title="Link to update 5">9.56am:</a></span> <strong>Libya:</strong> There was <a href="//www.libyaherald.com/fighting-in-mizdah-19-dead/">heavy fighting</a> around the town of Mizdah yesterday between forces from Zintan and members of the Mashasha tribe, the Libya Herald reports. At least 19 people are said to have died.</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>There has been growing hostility in recent months between the Zintanis who played a prominent role in last year's revolution and the Mashasha who did not support it. Last December, there were clashes in which four people died.</p> <p>The present fight started yesterday when the Mashasha stopped a Zintan military contingent heading to Sebha at a makeshift road block near Mizdah. In the ensuing conflict, one Zintani, who has been named as Muftah Ibrahim Al-Ramah, was shot dead and two others injured. They were taken to the local government hospital in Mizdah.</p> <p>Both sides then started to gather their forces and look for allies. The Mizdah and the Al-Qantrar tribes came out in support of Zintan while Twarghans from Hun and elsewhere are said to have driven over to support the Mashasha.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-4"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-4" class="block-link" title="Link to update 4">9.55am:</a></span> <strong>Libya:</strong> The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has no information at this stage linking yesterday's attack on its office in Misrata to the incident in Benghazi on 22 May, when a group of Islamists justified an attack on its premises by claiming that the ICRC is a Christian organisation that has been distributing bibles in Libya.</p> <p>One man was injured by the pre-dawn explosion in Misrata – the son of the owner of the offices, who lives in the compound. </p> <p>Yesterday, the ICRC issued a statement explaining the nature of its activities in Libya:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Upon the request of the Libyan authorities, the ICRC is focusing its activities on the fate of missing persons, visiting detainees and promotion of international humanitarian law ... </p> <p>We would like to stress that the ICRC is a strictly neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian organisation. It is not involved at all in any kind of politics or religion.</p> <p>The ICRC is the founding body of the worldwide Red Cross Red Crescent movement. In Libya it works in close partnership with the Libyan Red Crescent Society. Currently, about 70% of the ICRC operations worldwide are in Muslim countries ...</p> <p>The ICRC is not a religious organisation. The ICRC did not distribute bibles in Libya. However, on some occasions it distributed Qurans in places of detention upon request of the persons detained and this always in full transparency and agreement with the concerned authorities. </p> <p>The emblems of the Red Cross and Red Crescent bear no religious meaning. They are protected by international humanitarian law, which Libya has adhered to.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-3"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-3" class="block-link" title="Link to update 3">9.38am:</a></span> More helicopter news. Activists have broadcast footage of what they claim is the <a href="//youtu.be/s977Qq6weoo">defection of a captain of a helicopter squadron.</a></p> <p><span class="inline embed embed-media"> <iframe width="460" height="259" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/s977Qq6weoo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </span>The <a href="//youtu.be/s977Qq6weoo">clip purports to show Captain Ahmed Taher</a>, declaring that he is joining the opposition. </p> <p>According to our colleague Mona Mahmood, Taher said:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>I am captain Ahmed Taher Tarrad from the 59th brigade Hawamat squadron. This is my ID. I declare my defection from Assad's criminal army to join the Free Syrian Army. I am defecting because of Assad's shelling of cities and towns by war planes and helicopters and other types of heavy weapons to kill the innocent civilians; and the commitment of horrible massacres designed to create sectarian division among Syrian people. Long live free Syria. </p> </blockquote> <p>The clip cannot be independently verified.</p> <p><span class="inline embed embed-media"> <iframe width="460" height="259" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2jmUrCOU5Qc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> </span>Activists from <a href="//youtu.be/2jmUrCOU5Qc">Rastan have uploaded what they claim is the latest bombardment</a> of the opposition stronghold. A helicopter can been flying above the smoke-filled skyline.</p> <p>Yesterday the UN's supervision mission in Syria broadcast footage of helicopters flying over Syria. Kofi Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said observers had filmed helicopters firing, in what he claimed was the <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/12/syria-bashar-al-assad#block-22">first documented case of its kind</a> in the conflict.</p> <p>Human Rights Watch points out that it recorded helicopter attacks as early as February.</p>  <p id="block-2"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-2" class="block-link" title="Link to update 2">8.58am:</a></span> The US campaign group, Human Rights First, has <a href="//www.humanrightsfirst.org/2012/06/12/state-department-should-obtain-diclosures-for-russian-arms-shipments-to-syria/">urged the US state department to obtain more details about recent Russian shipments of attack helicopters</a>.</p> <p>It issued this statement: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>Russian made attack helicopters such as Mil Mi 24 (Mi 25) have been identified by citizens and reporters as a new tactic used in recent months in attacks by the Syrian regime on civilians in areas of Idlib, Rastan and Latakia. While many of the attack helicopter models currently used by the Syrian regime may have been imported a long time ago, any new shipments of such equipment to Syria is very worrying given their possible use against civilians. For this reason, Human Rights First has called on Secretary Clinton to obtain the disclosure of cargo manifests for Russian arms shipments to Syria over the past 16 months, to verify that Russia is in fact not providing the Syrian regime with weapons that are being or can be used to target civilians, as they have recently claimed.</p> </blockquote>  <p id="block-1"><span class="timestamp"><a href="#block-1" class="block-link" title="Link to update 1">8.36am:</a></span> (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Hillary Clinton has accused Russia of escalating a conflict that the UN peacekeeping chief says has descended into civil war. And there are fresh claims that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are supplying weapons to the rebels. </p> <p>Here's roundup in more detail: </p> <h2>Syria</h2> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/12/syria-russia-helicopters-civil-war"><strong>Clinton said Russia was shipping attack helicopters to the Assad regime and lying about weapons deliveries.</strong></a> She said:</p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria. 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.</p> </blockquote> <p>UN officials say that <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jun/12/syria-bashar-al-assad">helicopter gunships are already being used as activists circulated footage of spent Russian-made helicopter missiles</a>.</p> <p>• <a href="//en.rian.ru/russia/20120601/173793723.html"><strong>Clinton's remarks directly contradict Russian President Vladmir Putin who claimed earlier this month that Moscow was not supplying arms to Syria which could be used against protesters.</strong></a> "As for arms supplies, Russia is not supplying arms that could be used in civil conflicts," he said.</p> <p>• <a href="//uk.reuters.com/article/2012/06/12/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE84S0P320120612"><strong>Herve Ladsous, head of the UN's department of peacekeeping operations, said that Syria was in a state of civil war.</strong></a> "Clearly what is happening is the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory, several cities to the opposition, and wants to retake control," he told Reuters. Asked if the crisis can now be characterised as a civil war he said: "Yes, I think we can say that."</p> <p>• <a href="//www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=" 42202&cr="syria&Cr1"=""><strong>UN observers were prevented from reaching the besieged north-western town of al-Haffa by angry crowds, and were shot at as they left.</strong></a> Sausan Ghosheh, spokeswoman for the UN supervision mission in Syria, said: "The crowd, who appeared to be residents of the area, hurled stones and metal rods at the UN vehicles. The UN observers turned back. "As they were leaving the area, three vehicles heading towards Idlib were fired upon – the source of fire is still unclear." </p> <p>• <a href="//www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-arab-states-arm-rebels-as-un-talks-of-syrian-civil-war-7845026.html"><strong>Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with the implicit support of Turkey's intelligence agency, a unnamed diplomat told the Independent. </strong></a></p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>An Ankara-based Western diplomat, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, confirmed that the delivery of "light weapons" to the rebels was a "recent development", one that involved unmarked trucks transporting the weapons to the border for rebel groups. "There are arms coming in with the knowledge of the Turks," he said. The Syrian National Council (SNC), the main umbrella organisation of groups opposed to the regime, vetted the consignment.</p> </blockquote> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jun/12/syrian-olympic-chief-london-ban"><strong>Britain is poised to ban the head of Syria's national Olympic committee from attending the London games next month but allow a young showjumper with close family ties to the regime of Bashar al-Assad to compete as planned.</strong></a> Whitehall sources have indicated that General Mowaffak Joumaa will be refused entry to the UK on the grounds of his links to President Assad and the Syrian military. But Ahmed Hamsho, 18, is the first ever Syrian equestrian to qualify for the Olympics, is expected to compete despite the fact that his father is a close associate of Maher al-Assad, the president's brother and architect of the brutal suppression of the uprising. </p> <h2>Egypt</h2> <p>• <a href="//english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/44716/Egypt/Politics-/Egypts-Constituent-Assembly-unveiled-amid-fears-ov.aspx"><strong>More than 50 MPs boycotted the launch of a panel to draft Egypt's new constitution in protest at the domination of Islamists on the group, Alhram reports</strong></a>. Twenty-seven seats of the 100-member constituent assembly have been allocated to Islamist parliamentarians. Other prominent Islamist figures were also selected.</p> <h2>Tunisia</h2> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/12/salafi-islamists-clash-tunisian-police"><strong>A night time curfew was imposed in Tunis and seven other areas after Salafi Islamists angered by an art exhibition they say insults Muslims clashed with police.</strong></a> Protesters blocked streets and set tyres alight in the working-class Ettadamen and Sidi Hussein districts of the capital overnight on Monday. Some hurled petrol bombs at police in some of the worst confrontations since last year's revolt ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali as president. An interior ministry official said 2,500 Salafis were still involved in clashes with police in the area on Tuesday evening, 162 people had been detained and 65 members of the security forces had been hurt.</p> <p>• <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/12/moncef-marzoouki-seeds-change-tunisia"><strong>The Arab Spring is the triumph of democracy not Islam, Tunisia's President Moncef Marzouki told the Guardian.</strong></a> He said: </p> <blockquote class="quoted"> <p>When people tell me that we are going back to some new Islamic dictatorship, they don't understand the fact that Islam is not the main force; the main force is democracy. We secularists did not become Islamists, the Islamists became democrats, and this is why I think the Arab spring is the triumph of democracy and not Islamism. Islam is just trying to use democracy but in fact when you use democracy, I would not say you become a slave of it, but you become part of it. So this must be understood by the west. Even if we have elections and Ennahda prevails, it does not mean that the Islamist mood is prevailing. It means that the Islamist movement has been co-opted by democracy.</p> </blockquote> <h2>Libya</h2> <p>• <a href="//www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18419756"><strong>A team from the international criminal court has visited colleagues detained by a local militia in the Libyan mountain town of Zintan, the BBC reports. </strong></a>Ahmed al-Jehani, Libya's ICC envoy, said the group was eventually allowed into the town after an initial delay. 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