President Bashar Assad issued an amnesty for all crimes committed in Syria "up until today," with the notable exception of "terrorist crimes," state television said on Tuesday.

Assad, who has been fighting a 19-month revolt against his regime, "decreed a general amnesty for crimes committed before October 23," except for those carried out by "terrorists" -- the regime's term for rebels.

A car bomb and mortar attacks against predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in north Baghdad killed at least seven people Tuesday, security and medical officials said.

Multiple mortars struck the Chikouk area while a car bomb exploded in Shuala, all minutes apart at around 6:45 am (0345 GMT), an interior ministry official said.

A court in southern Israel on Monday freed from custody three Israeli citizens who accompanied pro-Palestinian activists on a Gaza-bound boat intercepted by the Israeli navy, their lawyer said, while authorities said 10 foreigners were expelled.

Gaby Lasky said that the three Israelis had been placed under house arrest until Tuesday but were not expected to face further proceedings.

The United Nations has made plans to assemble a peacekeeping force for Syria if a ceasefire proposed by a special envoy takes hold, a top U.N. official said Monday.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous stressed however that planning was very tentative while fighting rages in Syria and would be dependent on the U.N. Security Council overcoming its bitter divisions on the 19-month-old conflict.

Hopes of a truce being implemented in war-torn Syria during this week's Muslim Eid holidays are "slim," the Arab League said on Monday, as rebels and troops engaged in fierce clashes in Damascus and on northern battlefields.

But the United Nations held on to the hope that the two warring sides will observe a truce during the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday which begins on Friday, saying it had plans to assemble a peacekeeping force if a ceasefire takes hold.

Qatar confirmed that its emir will visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, on the first such visit by an Arab head of state since the Islamist Hamas seized control of the coastal enclave in 2007.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani "will make a brief visit to the Gaza Strip to inaugurate a number of projects funded by Qatar as part of its efforts to rebuilt the Strip," Qatar's official QNA news agency said on Monday.

The Kuwaiti opposition said on Monday it will push ahead with protests until the government meets its demands for reform, a day after 100 demonstrators were injured in confrontations with police.

"Despite the government's oppressive measures, we affirm that we will continue with the protest campaign... and we will announce new actions soon," the opposition said in a statement after holding an emergency meeting.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton kicks off a five-day Middle East tour with a stop Monday in Jordan where she visits Zaatary refugee camp, home to some 36,000 Syrians, her office said.

During the stop, she will also meet King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, whose country is sheltering tens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the 20-month conflict.

An accidental blast at an army ammunition depot stocked with mines and explosives killed six soldiers in south Yemen on Monday, a local municipality official said.

The blast occurred Monday morning in an explosives warehouse at an army base in the southern port city of Aden, "killing six soldiers and wounding others," local municipality chief Abdel Munim al-Abd told Agence France Presse.

Russian deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov arrived in Tehran on Monday to discuss the crisis in mutual ally Syria with Iranian officials, Fars news agency reported.

"Mikhail Bogdanov, deputy foreign minister for Middle East and President Vladimir Putin's special representative arrived in Tehran at the invitation of his counterpart Hossein Amir Abdolahian to discuss regional issues and Syria," Fars said.