Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has stressed upon his return from Doha the importance of respect for agreements signed between Lebanon and Syria.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Tuesday, Mansour said he would return to Cairo on Wednesday to participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Arab League’s initiative committee to solve the situation in Syria.

Five Arab Spring activists have won the European parliament's Sakharov prize awarded to campaigners for freedom, a parliamentary source said Thursday.

The laureates are Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia, awarded posthumously, Egyptian militant Asmaa Mahfouz, Libyan dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Sanusi, Syrian lawyer Razan Zeitouneh and Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat, the source added.

Egypt and Israel are adding the "final touches" to a deal to swap an Israel-American detained in Cairo for a group of Egyptian prisoners and children, the official MENA news agency said on Saturday.

"MENA has learned that the final touches are currently being made for a deal to swap Israeli spy Ilan Grapel, accused of spying on Egypt for Israel, for about 16 Egyptian prisoners and three detained children," MENA reported.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Sunday that Lebanon will not take a position that would harm Syria’s security and stability during the Arab foreign ministers’ meetings scheduled to take place in Cairo later on Sunday.

He added: “Lebanon will take a stand that supports Syria and its efforts to implement reform.”

Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests, the official MENA news agency reported.

The agency cited the Arab League's deputy leader Ahmed Ben Helli as saying the meeting would be held at the request of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is expected to return to Israel via Egypt by next Wednesday, Palestinian sources and Israeli media said on Thursday

A senior Palestinian official said a first group of 450 Palestinian prisoners would be released next Tuesday, followed by Shalit's release on Wednesday.

Lawyers for alleged victims of Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak in his murder trial demanded a new judge on Saturday after military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi testified in court.

Tantawi, who served as defense minister for Mubarak before his overthrow by a popular revolt on February 11, testified behind closed doors.

The testimony of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler, as a witness at the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak has been postponed to September 24, judicial sources said Sunday.

Tantawi, who is the de facto head of state since the fall of Mubarak to a popular uprising in February, faced a last minute difficulty which made him unavailable to testify as scheduled on Sunday, the sources said.

The trial of Egyptian ex-president Hosni Mubarak reopened Wednesday, state TV said, with new witnesses set to be questioned over the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the revolt that ousted him.

The latest hearing is the fourth in the trial which opened on August 3 and, unlike the first two sessions, the process is being held behind closed doors and off-camera.

The trial of Hosni Mubarak and his two sons' trial was postponed on Monday after the prosecution and defense lawyers clashed in the court room.

Dozens of the ousted Egyptian president's supporters and opponents clashed near the Cairo court before he arrived on a stretcher.