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Kuwait Condemns Sunnis for Burning Iran Flag

Kuwait on Thursday condemned Sunni activists for setting ablaze an Iranian flag during a rally to protest a Shiite tweeter's insults against Islam's Prophet Mohammed.

A foreign ministry official expressed his "rejection and condemnation of this irresponsible action," the official KUNA news agency reported, citing a statement.

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Pillay Says Enough Evidence to Charge Syria's Assad

There is enough evidence to bring human rights charges against Syrian President Bashar Assad over his crackdown on protesters, U.N. rights Chief Navi Pillay said in comments broadcast Wednesday.

In an interview with the BBC broadcast Wednesday but recorded earlier, Pillay said the president's role as commander of the security forces left him responsible for their actions during the unrest.

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At Least 13 Killed in Violence across Syria

Violence across Syria on Thursday killed at least 13 people, nearly all of them civilians, a monitoring group said.

Three civilians died as regime forces stormed villages near the town of Maaret al-Numan, in northwestern Idlib province, which has been under a relentless army assault since the start of the month, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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Paris Says 'Friends of Syria' Meeting to Judge Assad on Peace Plan

The Friends of Syria meeting in Istanbul Sunday will be a chance for the international community to judge if Bashar al-Assad's regime is implementing Kofi Annan's peace plan, France said.

"Bashar al-Assad has supposedly accepted Kofi Annan's peace plan," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told a press conference on Wednesday.

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Syria to Reject Any Arab League Initiative to End Crisis

Damascus will reject any initiative stemming from this week's Arab League summit to end the year-long crisis in Syria, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Syria will not cooperate with any Arab League initiative at any level," spokesman Jihad Makdissi said in a statement to AFP.

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Islamist Elected to Head Egypt Constitution Panel

Members of a controversial panel tasked with drafting Egypt's new constitution on Wednesday elected Muslim Brotherhood member Saad al-Katatni -- currently the speaker of parliament-- to head the committee.

The appointment comes following a series of withdrawals from the constituent assembly by liberal, leftist and independent figures who accuse Islamists of monopolizing the process that will deliver the post-revolution charter.

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Syria Peace Envoy Annan to Visit Tehran Next Week

The U.N. and Arab League's envoy to mediate the Syria conflict, Kofi Annan, will visit Tehran next week, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.

"Kofi Annan is probably coming to Tehran on Monday," Salehi told reporters on the sideline of a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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Arab Foreign Ministers to Debate Syria Resolution Calling for Talks

Arab foreign ministers met on Wednesday in Baghdad to debate a draft resolution calling on Damascus to end violence and hold talks with the opposition, on the eve of a landmark summit in Iraq.

The Syria crisis, in which monitors say almost 10,000 people have died in a bloody crackdown on a year-long revolt against President Bashar Assad, has loomed large over the first such Arab meetings to be held in Baghdad in over 20 years, which officials insist will tackle a wide variety of regional issues.

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Iraq Accepts First Saudi Envoy Since 1990

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has accepted the credentials of the first Saudi ambassador to Baghdad since Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, the president's office said on Wednesday.

"Iraq is keen to build the best relations with the kingdom, which will benefit and be in the best interests of the two countries and the two peoples," Talabani said, according to a statement which also said that the credentials were presented Tuesday evening.

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Gunmen Seize Saudi Diplomat in South Yemen

Saudi Arabia's deputy consul in Yemen's southern port city of Aden was seized by unknown gunmen outside his home on Wednesday, a police official told Agence France Presse.

"Abdullah al-Khalidi was kidnapped while leaving his home in the Mansoura neighborhood of Aden," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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