Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

• Syria's foreign ministry says it has fired the country's ambassador to Iraq after he defected to the opposition. The ministry said Nawaf al-Fares had been "relieved of his duties" and should face "legal and disciplinary accountability".

• In his defection video Fares urged the military to join the revolution and turn their guns against the Assad regime. Iraq's foreign minster said Fares had fled to Qatar, amid speculation that more ambassadors are preparing to switch sides.

• The UK has drafted a new UN resolution demanding an end to the violence within 10 days, and threatens more sanctions not intervention, if the Syrian government does not comply. Russia, which tabled its own draft resolution earlier this week, has indicated that it will object to the UK's draft when it is debated at the security council later today.

• The security forces fired mortars into a district on the outskirts of Damascus, according to three opposition sources. Activists in the Kfar Souseh neighbourhood of Damascus said the forces of President Bashar al-Assad were firing mortar rounds into orchards on the outskirts of the city, apparently trying to flush out rebels taking cover there.

• Human Rights Watch has expressed alarm about the possible use of cluster bombs in Syria after videos appear to show remnants of the widely banned devices. Steve Goose, arms division director at the group, said: "These videos show identifiable cluster bombs and submunitions. If confirmed, this would be the first documented use of these highly dangerous weapons by the Syrian armed forces during the conflict."

• Kofi Annan has confirmed that President Assad discussed the possibility of forming a transitional government and suggested a possible interlocutor to negotiate with the opposition. Leaked minutes of Annan's meeting with Assad named the interlocutor as Dr Ali Haidar, minister of state for national reconciliation affairs. Activists in Syria have signalled that they plan to demonstrate against Annan's initiative in this week's Friday protests.

Egypt

• President Mohamed Morsi says he will respect the supreme constitutional court's decision to overturn his attempt to reinstate parliament, the Egypt Independent reports. The statement says: "If the supreme constitutional court's ruling ... prevents parliament from performing its tasks, we will respect that because we are a law-based state."

Saudi Arabia: The kingdom has deployed more troops in the oil-rich Eastern Province and cancelled some military leave amid worries of fresh unrest by Shia Muslims and regional tensions, Reuters reports citing Saudi government sources and diplomats.

A Saudi government source said that top commanders, in a directive issued on June 26, ordered extra security forces to be stationed in the kingdom's crude-producing east where the majority of the Saudi Shia population live. The source said Saudi troops were put on alert and summer leave was cancelled for some officers but "those already on holiday are are not being called back." Western diplomats confirmed that holidays were suspended since the end of June ... "It's been the norm for a long time that the National Guard is ready for backup for any security threat," the source added. The source said that up to 1,200 additional National Guard members – an elite Bedouin corps led by King Abdullah's son Prince Miteb that handles domestic security – had been sent to the Eastern Province. "The deployment has been taking place as a show of force ... a deterrent policy," he said, adding that the total count of National Guard forces in the region was now more than 3,000.

Arab Spring: Britain's spies were wrong-footed by the Arab Spring and failed to predict the dramatic uprisings that swept the region, parliament's intelligence and security committee said today. AP reports:

In private evidence sessions with the committee [described its annual report] ... the heads of the country's overseas intelligence agency MI6 and global eavesdropping service GCHQ acknowledged that a focus on al-Qaida-linked terrorism and Iran's nuclear programme meant their coverage across some parts of the Arab world had dwindled. "When the upheavals took place around the Arab world ... our coverage of individual Arab countries had been falling for some time," John Sawers, head of MI6 (pictured), told the panel in a closed door hearing in December. Iain Lobban, head of GCHQ said that ahead of the uprisings the "Arab nations were one of the few areas where we were planning to draw down our effort pretty well comprehensively." Defense Intelligence, the military's dedicated spy service, said it had "little resource" directed at the countries involved as the revolts began. "We can't cover everything all the time in the modern world," the agency told lawmakers ... Sawers acknowledged that MI6 had been "unable to provide detailed reporting on (the) Tunisia and Egypt crises," because of its lack of assets there.

Sawers was British ambassador in Egypt from 2001 to 2003.

Syria: Little has been heard from Republican Guard commander Manaf Tlaff (pictured) since his defection was reported a week ago.

Last Friday French foreign minister Laurent Fabius told the Friends of Syria conference that Tlass was on his way for to France.

Now Fabius has said a little more, Now Lebanon reports.



"I know that there is some closeness between the opposition and this general... contacts have been made," Fabius told journalists, without confirming that Tlass was in Paris as believed.

Syria: The defections of Tlass and Fares "could be the beginning of an avalanche" that sweeps Assad away, claims former US diplomat Daniel Serwer.

But he warns that it will be a bumpy ride ahead because the international community is so unprepared for Syria after Assad.

Writing on his Peacefare blog, Serwer, who was the former US's envoy to Bosnia, says:

I've seen little sign of serious thinking or preparation for the big challenges ahead: creating a safe and secure environment, separating combatants, minimizing sectarian violence, providing for returnees and refugees, re-establishing law and order, beginning a political transition and somehow funding the effort. Nothing about the Syrian National Council's performance in recent months suggests that it is capable of handling the situation with the modicum of legitimacy and skill that the Libyan National Transitional Council managed. Nothing about the Syrian army's performance suggests that it could do even as well as the shambolic performance of the Egyptian supreme council of the armed forces. Nothing about the UN's performance in trying to implement the Annan peace plan suggests it can take on Syria and be effective.

Syria: The US thinktank, the Institute for the Study of War, has mapped the areas of Syria it claims are under the control of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Its presentation shows large swaths of the east of the country controlled by rebels with their biggest gains in the north-west (hat tip @Brown_Moses).

Syria: Russia has confirmed its opposition to the UK drafted resolution giving Syria 10 days to end the violence.

RIA Novosti quotes Russian deputy foreign minister Gennady Gatilov as saying:

We have stated repeatedly that Chapter VII of the UN Charter is unacceptable to us.

Julian Borger has more on the significance of Chapter VII for the Russians (see 1.04pm).

Syria: UN observers have been filmed visiting the war-torn town of al-Atarib, west of Aleppo, today.

The area has seen some of the worst fighting between in recent weeks.

Last week the head of the monitoring mission General Robert Mood said he planned to restructure the monitoring mission. Its mandate runs out on 20 July.

Tunisia: The Hamas leader has been addressing Ennahda's conference in Tunisia.

Syria: There are now duelling draft resolutions circulating among UN security council members in New York. We asked the Guardian's diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, to explain what is going on:

The UK had intended to table its draft, backed by the US, France, Germany and Portugal yesterday, but the Russians got there first with their own version. "They beat us to the punch," a UK diplomat said. "Now they are calling it 'drafts at dawn'." The UK draft is a Chapter VII document, which would renew the mandate of Kofi Annan's peace mission but with the threat of UN sanctions (explicitly not military force in this case) if the Assad regime does not withdraw its troops from populated areas and into barracks in 10 days. The Russian version, a Chapter VI draft resolution, has no deadlines or penalties and is basic a rollover of the Annan mission's mandate. The two sides will now try to sell their rival versions to the rest of the security council. The UK believes it has the P3 (UK, US, France), Germany, Portugal, Morocco, Togo, Azerbaijan, Guatemala and Colombia behind its version. The diplomatic focus will be on India, South Africa and Pakistan, who are reluctant to endorse a Chapter VII resolution threatening penalties against one side. The Russians and Chinese will be fighting to prevent being isolated, and will try to keep at least India and South Africa on their side. The deadline for the debate is July 20 when the existing Annan mandate runs out.

• Note: The full text of the current British draft is here.

Syria: "The debate surrounding Syria has stooped very low among self-identified leftists and anti-imperialists," Hicham Safieddine writes in an article for Jadaliyya.

Safieddine examines the claims put forward by the Assad regime's defenders, arguing that the regime is not so much anti-imperialist as "ultranationalist with an anti-Zionist silver lining".

He also argues that "the destruction of Syria is as much an effect of regime policies as it is of the external forces colluding with internal agents".

Here's a roundup of the main developments so far today:

Syria

• Syria's foreign ministry says it has fired the country's ambassador to Iraq after he defected to the opposition. The ministry said Nawaf al-Fares had been "relieved of his duties" and should face "legal and disciplinary accountability".

• In his defection video Fares urged the military to join the revolution and turn their guns against the Assad regime. Iraq's foreign minster said Fares had fled to Qatar, amid speculation that more ambassadors are preparing to switch sides.

• The UK has drafted a new UN resolution demanding an end to the violence within 10 days, and threatens more sanctions not intervention, if the Syrian government does not comply. Russia, which tabled its own draft resolution earlier this week, has indicated that it will object to the UK's draft when it is debated at the security council later today.

• The security forces fired mortars into a district on the outskirts of Damascus, according to three opposition sources. Activists in the Kfar Souseh neighbourhood of Damascus said the forces of President Bashar al-Assad were firing mortar rounds into orchards on the outskirts of the city, apparently trying to flush out rebels taking cover there.

• Human Rights Watch has expressed alarm about the possible use of cluster bombs in Syria after videos appear to show remnants of the widely banned devices. Steve Goose, arms division director at the group, said: "These videos show identifiable cluster bombs and submunitions. If confirmed, this would be the first documented use of these highly dangerous weapons by the Syrian armed forces during the conflict."

• Kofi Annan has confirmed that President Assad discussed the possibility of forming a transitional government and suggested a possible interlocutor to negotiate with the opposition. Leaked minutes of Annan's meeting with Assad named the interlocutor as Dr Ali Haidar, minister of state for national reconciliation affairs. Activists in Syria have signalled that they plan to demonstrate against Annan's initiative in this week's Friday protests.

Egypt

• President Mohamed Morsi says he will respect the supreme constitutional court's decision to overturn his attempt to reinstate parliament, the Egypt Independent reports. The statement says: "If the supreme constitutional court's ruling ... prevents parliament from performing its tasks, we will respect that because we are a law-based state."

Syria: Guardian reporter Martin Chulov has been inside Syria many times since the uprising began. He will be online from 1pm BST to answer questions on the Syria crisis – and the challenges of reporting from the region.

Post your questions and follow the discussion here.

Syria: The defected ambassador, Nawaf al-Fares, is currently in Qatar, Reuters reports citing Iraq's foreign minister.

Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told reporters in Paris the defection by al-Fares on Wednesday came as a surprise, as he was loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Zebari was in Paris to inaugurate a new embassy.

This probably explains how the story of his defection was broken by al-Jazeera (based in Qatar). It would also explain the reference in the Syrian foreign ministry's statement about Fares having left the Baghdad embassy "without permission" (ie to travel to Qatar which is regarded as hostile to the Assad regime).

Syria: A topical slogan for tomorrow's protests, with Kofi as the target:

Friday's day of protest is called "Down with Annan, the servant of Assad and Iran" #Syria — Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) July 12, 2012

Syria: Kofi Annan's latest account of his meeting with Assad on Monday appears to confirm the veracity of leaked minutes from the meeting.

Annan said that during his discussions Assad proposed someone who could serve as an interlocutor for the regime as it explores ways of forming a transitional government with the opposition. He didn't name the interlocutor.

But as we reported on Monday minutes of the meeting, leaked to the Lebanese daily al-Akhbar, named the proposed interlocutor as Dr Ali Haidar, minister of state for national reconciliation affairs (pictured).

Annan said he would have preferred "someone closer" to Assad, but Assad is said to have replied:

Dr Haidar and I shared adjoining desks throughout my university years specialising in ophthalmology. Do you want someone closer than that? Anyway, I think your greater difficulty will be on the other side, not on ours. Will you be able to get a name to represent the opposition?

In a briefing with journalists last night the last question to Annan was: "Did you discuss with Mr. Assad about the election of an interlocutor to begin the dialogue with the opposition? How is that going?"

Annan replied:



In all frankness yes, we discussed [this]. He did offer a name and I indicated that I wanted to know a bit more about that individual. So we are at that stage. Thank you very much.

Syria: Hassan Hassan, a columnist for the National who comes from a tribal part of eastern Syria (the same area as Nawaf al-Fares), has just posted this tweet:

A source close to the opposition tells me there are 31 ambassadors "ready" to defect, including the ones in Muscat & Belarus. — Hassan Hassan (@hhassan140) July 12, 2012

Syria: The security forces fired mortars into a district on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday, three opposition sources told Reuters.

Activists in the Kfar Souseh neighbourhood of Damascus said the forces of President Bashar al-Assad were firing mortar rounds into orchards on the outskirts of the city, apparently trying to flush out rebels taking cover there. The al-Lawan and Basateen districts of Kfar Souseh are a semi-residential area of olive and fruit groves lying astride a major interchange on the capital's Hafez al-Assad southern bypass highway. "I woke up this morning and saw helicopters flying over the area. Then I started hearing the mortars. There were about six or seven of them in the past half hour. And now I just heard another one hit. We can see fire and smoke coming from one of the fields nearby," said anti-government activist Hazem al-Aqad. "People are terrified, families are getting in their cars and rushing as fast as they can to other areas. About 200 people in my area have left so far," he told Reuters on Skype. A Damascus activist named Lina said the shelling had begun at 9:45 a.m. "This is the first time they have shelled Kfar Souseh, (though) they tried to break into it before," she said. A third activist source said: "The FSA (rebel Free Syrian Army) are going in and out of the Basateen area in Kfar Souseh. The army has suffered some heavy losses.

Activist Sami al-Hamwi tweets an image purporting to show the attack:

Shelling today for the first time in the orchards between Kafarsouseh neighborhood of #Damascus and Daraya. #Syria twitter.com/HamaEcho/statu… — Sami al-Hamwi (@HamaEcho) July 12, 2012

Tunisia: The Tunisian Communist Workers Party has decided to drop the word "communist" from its title. It will now be known as the Tunisian Workers Party (or POT, using its French acronym).

"Our goal is to avoid the stereotype most Tunisians would think of when hearing the word 'communist'," a spokesman told Tunisia Live.

POT says it is hoping to form an alliance with "progressive, leftist, political parties and politicians" with the aim of creating an alternative to the two main forces in Tunisian politics – Ennahda and the supporters of the country's first president, Habib Bourguiba.

Syria: Nawaf al-Fares, the Syrian ambassador in Iraq who defected yesterday, has been "relieved of his duties", the foreign ministry announced today.

An announcement (in Arabic) said he had made statements that conflict "with his duty to defend the positions of the country" and require "legal and disciplinary accountability".

It also said he had left his office at the embassy without obtaining prior approval from the ministry in Damascus, adding that the Baghdad embassy will continue to work without him in its usual efficient way.

Syria: Human Rights Watch has expressed alarm about the possible use of cluster bombs in Syria after videos appear to show remnants of the deadly devices.

The images include Soviet-produced unexploded submunitions and a bomb canister, apparently found in Jabal Shahshabu, a mountainous area near Hama. An activist in the area told Human Rights Watch that the region where the cluster remnants were allegedly found has been under sustained bombardment by Syrian forces over the past two weeks. "These videos show identifiable cluster bombs and submunitions," said Steve Goose, Arms Division director at Human Rights Watch. "If confirmed, this would be the first documented use of these highly dangerous weapons by the Syrian armed forces during the conflict."

Blogger Brown Moses, who highlighted the videos on Tuesday, has more details.

(all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live.

There's a flurry of diplomatic and defection news on Syria to catch up on. Here's a roundup:

Syria

• The UK has drafted a new UN resolution demanding an end to the violence within 10 days, and threatens more sanctions not intervention if the Syrian government does not comply. The diplomatic blog UN-report has published the full-text. It says the security council:

Demands the urgent, comprehensive, and immediate implementation of, all elements of the Envoy's six-point proposal as annexed to resolution 2042 (2012) aimed at bringing an immediate end to all violence and human rights violations, securing humanitarian access and facilitating a Syrian-led political transition as outlined in Annex A, leading to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations, ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian authorities and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.

• Russia has indicated that it will oppose the draft because of the invocation of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, a tool Russia accused the West of abusing last year to overthrow Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, according to Bloomberg. It quotes Alexander Pankin, Russia's deputy UN envoy, telling reporters: "Chapter 7 is the last resort. Chapter 7 is not very efficient on many occasions. If there is no political will on behalf of all participants to this large process then no action, especially one-side actions aimed at the Syrian government, would be helpful."

• Syria's ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares said he had defected and joined the revolution against Bashar al-Assad, becoming the first senior diplomat to quit the embattled government. In a video announcing the move he urged members of the military to join the revolution.

• Fares is an especially significant figure, because although he is a Sunni, he is head of the Uqaydat tribe which straddles the Syrian-Iraqi border along the Euphrates river, writes Julian Borger. Salman Shaikh, the director of the Brookings Doha Centre, told him: "This is actually more important than the Manaf Tlass defection because of where Fares comes from and his tribal connections. The one thing the regime should fear more than anything else is a new front in the east. Its efforts to dampen down the revolt there, particularly in Deir Ezzor, have had clear political consequences." Meanwhile, mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the Manaf Tlass, dampening some of the enthusiasm that first greeted news of his defection, according to New York Times.

• Assad has discussed the possibility of forming a transitional government as proposed by an international conference in Geneva last month, according to the international envoy Kofi Annan. Assad also proposed someone who could serve as an interlocutor for the regime as it explores ways of forming a transitional government with the opposition, Annan told reporters, but he didn't say who.

• The area between the northern city of Aleppo and the Turkish border has become ambush country, the Guardian's Martin Chulov writes after a stint in Syria with the rebels.

Hulking wrecks of tanks litter sections of the road, alongside the torched lorries that were transporting them. This is ambush country, fertile ground for the guerillas who hide in the nearby hills with whatever weapons they can scrounge. Increasingly, the weapons of choice against the Syrian military's ageing tank fleet are Iraq-style roadside bombs, made with fertiliser detonated by mobile phones. As the Guardian was crossing the border into Syria from Turkey early last week, a Turkish soldier checked the carry bag of a Syrian man, only metres from the border fence. He found four large ignition switches and a circuit board – all components for such bombs – that had been bought in a nearby Turkish town. "They're for my car," he said in a half-hearted bid to keep them from being confiscated. The soldier returned the man's bag without the switches. "Go to Syria," he said with a wave of his arm.

Egypt

• President Mohamed Morsi says he will respect the supreme constitutional court's decision to overturn his attempt to reinstate parliament, the Egypt Independent reports. The statement says: "If the supreme constitutional court's ruling ... prevents parliament from performing its tasks, we will respect that because we are a law-based state."

• Morsi's visit Saudi Arabia in the midst of this crisis was a mistake, argues Michael Collins Dunn of the Middle East Institute.