Syria agreed to an April 10th deadline to start implementing a peace plan drafted by the UN-Arab League, but it still insists it will not pull its troops out of cities until opposition forces disarm.

Syria’s deputy oil minister resigned and joined the side of the rebel opposition. Abdo Hussameldin is the most senior figure to leave Bashar Assad’s regime. More than 8,000 people have died in the violence since the uprising began.

Militants linked to Al-Qaeda in Yemen have killed more than 100 people in clashes in southern Yemen.

A wave of bombings in Iraq killed scores of people. Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad and other cities were the primary targets.

Voters in Yemen were asked to rubber-stamp the promotion of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the vice-president, to the presidency. He was the only candidate in the presidential vote.

Egypt celebrated its first anniversary of the protests which led to Hosni Mubarak’s departure from power. In the country’s first free parliamentary elections, the Muslim Brotherhood and their hardline Salafi rivals won a joint 70% of the seats.

A report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry said the authorities had used ‘excessive force’ in a crackdown earlier this year against mostly Shia pro-democracy protesters.

Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi was caught in southern Libya, as was Muammar Qaddafi’s security chief Abdullah al-Senussi. Both are wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh signed an agreement brokered by the GCC, saying he would stand down and hand power to his vice-president.

Dozens of people were killed in Yemen during protests against President Saleh. Though he has promised to step down, he showed no sign of actually doing so.

More than 20 people were killed as protests broke out in the Syrian city of Homs. According to the UN, over 3,000 people have been killed since the Syrian unrests began in March.

Israeli solider Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive for more than five years by Hamas, was freed in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian soliders.

Russia and China vetoed a European-sponsored resolution in the UN Security Council condmening a crackdown on pro-democracy protesters by the Syrian government that has killed some 3,000 people.

Israel went ahead with plans to build another 1,100 homes in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as their future capital.

Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh unexpectedly returned home, promising to arrange an orderly handover of power.

Forces fighting for Libya’s new government tightened their grip around Bani Walid and Sirte, the last two strongholds under Colonel Qaddafi’s control. The port of Sirte was said to be in the hands of rebel forces.

Yemeni capital Sana’a experienced three days of fighting between government forces and deserters calling for the resignation of President Saleh, who has been recuperating in Saudi Arabia following a bomb attack on his life in June. The battle left at least 70 people dead, most of them anti-government protesters.

The Palestinians seemed set to bid for full statehood at the United Nations to the consternation of Israel and the United States, which was sure to veto the application in the Security Council.

In an attempt to fend off calls for more freedom, Algeria’s president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced plans to allow independent radio and television stations for the first time since independence in 1962.

A UN panel warned that Yemen is close to a civil war. Its president Ali Abdullah Saleh is still recovering in Saudi Arabia from an attack in his palace three months ago. Saleh instructed his vice-president to arrange for power to be handed over to a new government.