International peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is trying to secure a truce in Syria for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, will arrive in Damascus on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said.

"Brahimi will meet with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Saturday morning," ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi told AFP.

A drone strike near the southern Yemeni city of Jaar killed at least seven Al-Qaida suspects at dawn on Thursday, an official in the restive region told AFP.

"A drone, likely American, fired several rockets at a group of Al-Qaida members northwest of Jaar killing all of them," said the official, adding seven bodies had so far been recovered.

President Barack Obama's deputy national security advisor was in Baghdad this week for talks with Iraqi leaders on issues including the spillover from the unrest in Syria, the White House said Wednesday.

Dennis McDonough met Monday with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, the speaker of Iraq's parliament as well other top officials, said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor.

The United States and Israel are set to launch a major military exercise in a show of unity aimed at Iran, despite friction between American and Israeli leaders over how to counter Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The air defense drills, dubbed "Austere Challenge 2012," will unfold later this month and last about three weeks, with 3,500 U.S. troops and 1,000 Israeli forces taking part, officers said Wednesday.

At least eleven Libyans were killed and scores wounded in clashes on Wednesday when ex-rebels linked to the army attacked Bani Walid, a former bastion of dictator Moammar Gadhafi, local sources said.

"Clashes today left four dead and 19 wounded in the ranks of Libya Shield," said a commander of the brigade which operates under the banner of the army.

The Israeli airforce carried out a sortie in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning, sources on both sides said, hours after rockets from the enclave hit southern Israel.

Palestinian medics and security sources said the strike targeted a Hamas security site south of Gaza City. They said the attack resulted in no injuries.

Former car salesman Manssor Arbabsiar pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring with the Iranian military to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States in a plot as lurid as any airport thriller.

Appearing at the New York federal court where he had been due to stand trial in January, the Iranian-American entered a surprise guilty plea. He faces up to 25 years in prison at his sentencing, which was set for January 23.

Turkish artillery struck back at Syria on Wednesday after a Syrian mortar bomb landed on Turkish territory, local sources quoted by news agency Anatolia said.

Border troops in the Hatay province fired off a mortar strike at Syria, in retaliation for the Syrian bomb which struck Turkish territory at around 1315 GMT, the office of Hatay's governor said in a statement quoted by Anatolia.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday defended its arms trade against criticisms over its dealings with Syria, insisting only the United Nations could dictate restrictions on arms sales.

Putin defended Russia's right to trade weapons with whomever it wanted, without mentioning Syria but in an apparent reaction to recent attacks from the West over supplies to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Kuwait's public prosecution said Wednesday it had suspended investigations into highly publicized allegations of corruption against 13 former MPs, saying it had found no evidence of any crime.

"Investigation and interrogation (by the public prosecution) did not find any evidence to prove any crime like bribery, graft, money laundering or others against any suspect in the case," said a statement by the prosecution service.