A man believed to be a serving British soldier was brutally murdered Wednesday near a London barracks in what Prime Minister David Cameron said appeared to be a terrorist attack.

Cameron called the attack "appalling" and said: "There are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident."

British Prime Minister David Cameron faced a showdown with eurosceptic rebels on Wednesday in a parliamentary vote over his plans for a referendum on membership of the European Union.

Up to 100 disgruntled backbenchers from Cameron's Conservative party are set to vote for a motion expressing "regret" that the coalition government has failed to enshrine in law the promise to hold an in/out referendum.

British Prime Minister David Cameron and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed joint options for ending the crisis in Syria amid a new diplomatic push to resolve the two-year conflict.

Cameron's rare call on Putin at his summer vacation residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi came three days after top U.S. and Russian diplomats agreed to make a joint effort in search of a solution.

British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt on Monday called on the Lebanese to refrain from sending fighters to war-torn Syria, reiterating “the importance of international community support to Lebanon's disassociation policy.”

“As I discussed with Speaker (Nabih) Berri, President (Michel) Suleiman and the Army Commander (General Jean Qahwaji) today, I am pleased that we are, together, building Lebanon’s capacity to protect its sovereignty,” Burt said after talks with Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

Syria dismissed as a "barefaced lie" on Saturday American and British claims it may have used chemical arms, as staunch ally Russia warned against using such fears to launch a military intervention in the strife-torn country.

"First of all, I want to confirm that statements by the U.S. secretary of state and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie," Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi said in an interview published on the Kremlin-funded Russia Today's website.

Eleven British Muslims were jailed on Friday for planning what a court heard was an al-Qaida-backed plot to carry out a string of bombings that they hoped would rival 9/11 and the 2005 London attacks.

The conspiracy involved at least six of the plotters traveling to Pakistan for terror training, with the eventual aim of setting off eight rucksack bombs in crowded areas and possibly other timed devices.

British prosecutors on Wednesday charged The Sun tabloid's royal editor and two former staff at the military academy where Princes William and Harry trained over the sale of stories for thousands of pounds.

Journalist Duncan Larcombe, 37, was charged with conspiracy to conduct misconduct in a public office, along with John Hardy, 43, a former color sergeant at the elite Sandhurst military training academy, and Hardy's wife Claire, 39.

Two men were jailed for up to 16 years in Britain on Thursday for planning acts of terrorism including an al-Qaida-inspired plot to send a remote-controlled toy car into an army reservist center.

Zahid Iqbal, 31, and Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, 25, had discussed building an explosive device using a manual entitled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom -- by the al-Qaida chef", prosecutors said.

Britain has invited all the surviving U.S. ex-presidents to the funeral of former premier Margaret Thatcher next week as part of a more than 2,000-strong guest list, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said on Thursday.

All of Britain's surviving ex-prime ministers have also been invited along with a representative of the family of South Africa's Nelson Mandela and representatives from around 200 states and international organisations, Downing Street said in a statement.

Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the controversial "Iron Lady" who shaped a generation of British politics, died following a stroke on Monday at the age of 87, her spokesman said.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister David Cameron led tributes to Britain's first woman premier, a right-wing titan and key figure in the Cold War.