Operation Ostrava: Month 14, Week 1, Day 5.

It is currently around 11:30GMT on 12/4/12 so in Syria the ceasefire for the Saudi Irregular Army (SIA) has been in force for a little over 8 hours. Early indications are that the SIA have moved to ceasefire and violence in the country has all but stopped.

However here in Britain it is difficult to get information about exactly what is going on. While the British media have been given permission to acknowledge that the deadline for the SIA ceasefire did take place at 06:00local/03:00GMT the story has been overwhelmed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) releasing a report criticising the conduct of Metropolitan Police Commander John Yeates in the phone hacking scandal. Obviously as it involves them the phone hacking scandal is the British media's favourite topic of conversation at the moment. It could also be viewed as an attempt by the British state to restrict the freedom of the press making Britain a less democratic country. John Yeates of course is also currently on secondment to put down Bahrain's uprising where the violence against protesters never really stopped but recently has increased significantly to the point where people are beginning to question whether the 2012 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix can go ahead. The IPCC could also be viewed as the Arab league observer mission to Syria.

So apart from distracting everyone the IPCC report could be Britain apologising it's conduct in Bahrain and by extension their behaviour in Syria. However the body which is making that apology is seen as lacking credibility. So Britain is actually trying to cause massive confusion indicating that it feels it has nothing to apologise for over either Bahrain or Syria and intend to go on a rampage over Syria at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) regardless of what happens on the ground.

I will now have to go off and look at what is happening on the ground in Syria which will take time. However the early indications are that my biggest challenge will trying to find something to talk about and with a ceasefire that's kind of exactly what we're aiming for.