Security chief dies in Beirut blast - live updates - The Guardian

Welcome to Middle East Live. The International envoy on Syria is expected to take his calls for ceasefire to Damascus today, as Bashar al-Assad's forces continue to bomb rebel strongholds.

Here's a roundup in more detail:

Syria

• Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League envoy on Syria is expected in Damascus, where he will try to broker a brief ceasefire during the Islamic Eid al-Adha festival. Speaking to reporters in Jordan he said: "This appeal we made to our Syrian brothers, whether in the government or against the government, to stop fighting in the three or four days of the Eid next week." UN spokesman in Damascus Khaled al-Masri said Brahimi was expected to arrive today. He will meet Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem on Saturday, an official in Damascus said.

• Several dozen people have killed in air raids on the rebel-held town of Maarat al-Numan, the New York Times reports.

Men stumbled over rubble, carrying single bones nearly shorn of flesh and shredded body parts barely identifiable as human. Amid a swirling crowd of rescuers, two young men embraced and wept.

The state news agency claimed several "terrorists" had been killed in villages around Maraat al-Numan as part of a "cleaning" operation. 

• The US is offering a $7m reward for information on a Iran-based man it claims is channelling funds and fighters through Turkey to support al-Qaida linked groups in Syria.  Muhsin al-Fadhl is also suspected of using Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey, it claimed. 

• The UN's human rights chief Navi Pillay has warned that the international community is danger of "becoming inured to the horrors that Syrian civilians are suffering day in and day out". Speaking at news conference in Geneva she said: "The memories of what happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina should be sufficiently fresh to warn us all of the danger of allowing Syria to descend into all-out sectarian conflict."

• Pro-government forces are resorting to makeshift weapons including barrel bombs and Irams [ improvised rocket-assisted munition, the New York Times At War blog reports. 

According to conventional wisdom, pro-government forces should be well equipped by weapons from Russia and China and, to a lesser extent, Iran. But for some reason they have resorted to crafting weapons to complement, or perhaps even replace, their standard arms. We are not sure why, though theories abound ... The fact that both sides have developed ways to field makeshift arms is not a hopeful sign for those counselling a cease-fire, much less peace.

• Iran appears to be helping Syria block broadcasts from BBC, CNN and Voice of America, according to the Telegraph. The BBC said it was "experiencing deliberate, intermittent interference to its transmissions to audiences in Europe and the Middle East". 

Libya

• Libyan army units have launched a full-scale assault against the town of Bani Walid, accusing it of being controlled by supporters of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. There were conflicting claims about the battle last night, with army units claiming to have captured the airport and main hospital, leaving defending forces controlling only the town centre. But Ibrahim Warfali, a Bani Walid lawyer inside the town contacted by telephone, insisted the defenders were holding their ground.

• A Libyan militia commander who US officials say is under investigation in connection with the attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi said he was present during the incident but was not one of the ringleaders. In an interview, Abu Khattala told Reuters he had only heard he was a suspect through news media and was surprised that officials had told journalists he was at large. He said: "These reports say that no one knows where I am and that I am hiding. But here I am in the open, sitting in a hotel with you."