A Libyan military court on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to interrogate former transitional leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil over the murder of a general who had commanded rebel forces last year.

The court in the eastern city of Benghazi ordered that the ex-chairman of the National Transitional Council, a political body representing rebels in the 2011 conflict, be questioned over the killing of General Abdel Fatah Younes.

Turkey said Wednesday it is in talks with NATO over the possible deployment of Patriot missiles on its soil amid the escalating conflict in neighboring Syria, but the prime minister insisted that no request has yet been made.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters during a visit to Brussels that it was only "normal" to discuss any defense measures in the face of potential risk from Syria, according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.

More than 37,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of Syria's anti-regime revolt in March 2011, with over 1,000 dead in the past week, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday.

Civilians, at 26,596, represented the vast majority of those killed, said the Observatory, which included in that figure non-military people who have taken up arms against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Syria's foreign ministry warned Palestinians against becoming embroiled in the country's uprising on Wednesday, telling them to stay well clear of armed opposition groups, state television said.

"Syria will strongly oppose any attempt to bring the Palestinians into what is happening in Syria," a ministry source said, urging them to direct their efforts at the Palestinian cause, Syria TV reported.

Syria's main umbrella opposition group, under U.S. pressure to broaden its representation and urged by the Arab League to present a united front, began voting in a new leadership in Doha on Wednesday.

Some 400 members of the Syrian National Council were to choose from 29 lists of opposition groups ranging from liberals to the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as ethnic minorities and tribes.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime will not stay in power for long, Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Wednesday, urging the opposition meeting in Qatar to put aside their differences.

"It is important to unify the opposition's visions, especially because everyone knows that the regime in Syria will not remain for long and one day there will be a new situation in Syria," he told reporters in Cairo.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has been discharged from hospital in Saudi Arabia and is recovering, his press secretary said on Wednesday, after a second minor operation in less than four months.

"President Bashir left the hospital today at 8:00 am local time," and is now recovering in the Saudi kingdom before continuing with his schedule there, Emad Sayed Ahmed told Agence France Presse.

Turkish commandos have staged a raid against Kurd rebel hideouts in Iraq, NTV news channel reported Wednesday.

The rare cross-border strike hit targets some five kilometers (three miles) inside the border and came as part of an air-backed operation that has been going on for two days, according to NTV.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon urged President Barack Obama Wednesday to act quickly on ending the war in Syria and reviving the Middle East peace process as he congratulated the U.S. leader on his re-election.

The United Nations "will continue to count on the active engagement of the United States" on key global issues "as it strives to meet the hopes and expectations of people around the world," Ban said through a spokesman.

Iran executed 10 drug traffickers in a prison in Tehran on Wednesday, a statement on the website of the prosecutor's office said.

The men sent to the gallows were convicted of trafficking "hundreds of kilos" (pounds) of narcotics, the statement said.