Qatar has broken ranks with the Arab League to give close ally Turkey its full support for air strikes in northern Iraq, according to an official foreign ministry statement.

On Tuesday, the Arab League condemned Turkey's actions and called on Ankara to recognize the sovereignty of Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Egypt on Saturday to relaunch a strategic partnership with Washington's longtime ally, at the start of a regional mini-tour, a correspondent said.

He is also due in Qatar on Monday to meet his Arab counterparts in the Gulf to try to ease their concerns over the Iran nuclear deal.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry departed late Friday to Egypt for cooperation talks and to Qatar, where he hopes to ease Gulf countries' concerns about the Iran nuclear deal.

The trip, which ends August 8, will not include a stop in Israel, one of Washington's closest allies and a fierce critic of the newly-hatched Iran nuclear agreement.

The emir of al-Nusra Front in the Syrian Qalamoun region, Abou Malek al-Talli, has reportedly invited the families of the Lebanese hostages to visit their loved ones on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

Family member Hussein Youssef told TV and radio stations that al-Talli asked Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri to inform the relatives held captive by al-Nusra Front to head to the northeastern border town of Arsal on Saturday to meet the hostages.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has returned from Doha with pledges to revive the prisoner exchange deal between the Lebanese authorities and jihadists who have taken Lebanese servicemen captive, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported Thursday.

Ibrahim, who is the official Lebanese negotiator in the case of the troops and policemen, returned to Beirut on Wednesday after a two-day visit to Qatar.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is expected to travel to Qatar this week after it was reported that he would visit Turkey to discuss with Qatari officials the case of Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by jihadists last year.

Security sources told al-Akhbar daily published on Monday that the officials asked Ibrahim to meet them in Doha instead.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is expected to travel to Turkey next week to discuss with Qatari officials the case of Lebanese servicemen taken hostage by jihadists last year.

Security sources told al-Akhbar daily published on Friday that Ibrahim, who is the official Lebanese negotiator in the case of the troops and policemen, will inform the Qataris that Lebanon has completed the file on the prisoner exchange which was mediated by Doha's envoy.

The German authorities should carry out an investigation into the two-day detention of Al-Jazeera journalist Ahmed Mansour, a global rights watchdog said Wednesday.

Human Rights Watch called on German lawmakers to put pressure on their government to get answers.

Qatar expressed "deep concern" on Wednesday over a death sentence handed down by an Egyptian court against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and called for his release.

The United States has branded the sentencing of Egypt's first democratically elected president as politically motivated.

Qataris will have a rare chance to vote Wednesday as they choose candidates to sit on the country's only directly elected body, with calls growing to ensure more women are selected.

Only one woman was elected onto the 29-seat municipal council at the last vote and out of 118 candidates this time, only five are female, one fewer than the number who stood in the first such election 16 years ago.