The head of the controversial Arab League observer mission to Syria expressed satisfaction with the monitors' effort on Thursday, even as a deadly regime crackdown on dissent continues.

"I swear by God, I am fully satisfied with myself and with all those on the mission in Syria," Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi told reporters on a brief return to his homeland.

Turkey would consider giving asylum to Syrian President Bashar Assad's family if such a request is made, President Abdullah Gul was quoted as saying by daily Radikal on Thursday.

"There is no such thing right now," said Gul, when asked about Turkey's answer to a possible asylum request from Assad's family.

Russia will not stop selling arms to Syria, a top defense official said Thursday, as Moscow stands by its longtime ally despite mounting international condemnation over the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said his country is not violating any international obligations by selling weapons to Damascus.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday beheaded a man convicted of murder in the kingdom's southwest, the interior ministry said.

Abulrahman al-Qarni shot dead fellow Saudi Mushabab al-Khathami during a dispute, said the ministry statement carried by state news agency SPA.

Syria's opposition called protests Thursday to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hama massacre, as the United Nations moved closer to agreement on action to halt a deadly regime crackdown on dissent.

Demonstrations were planned in various cities in memory of the estimated 10,000 to 40,000 people who perished in February 1982 when then president Hafez Assad, father of the current president Bashar, launched a fierce assault on the central town to crush an Islamist revolt.

The Egyptian government sacked the head of security in the northern city of Port Said after an explosion of football violence that left 74 people dead, state media reported Thursday.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim fired city security chief Essam Samak because of the rioting that erupted late Wednesday seconds after the final whistle at a match between two rival teams, the MENA news agency reported.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon came under a brief shower of shoes as he entered Hamas-run Gaza on Thursday, hours after a barrage of rockets was fired from the territory into Israel.

As the U.N. chief entered the Palestinian territory, protesters threw shoes, sand and small stones at his convoy, which was briefly held up before continuing on to Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Kuwaitis started casting votes in a snap poll to elect the fourth parliament in less than six years with unofficial polls showing the Islamist-led opposition in the lead.

The election was called following bitter political disputes and youth-led street protests, inspired by the Arab Spring, that eventually forced the resignation of the previous government and the dissolving of parliament.

A Canadian woman held in connection with an audacious bid by a son of ex-Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi to smuggle himself into Mexico has been formally charged, along with three alleged accomplices, an official said Wednesday.

Mexico's Assistant Attorney General Jose Cuitlahuac Salinas said authorities charged Cynthia Vanier, a Dane and two Mexicans on January 28 for attempted trafficking of undocumented people, organized crime and falsifying official documents.

Four rockets fired from the Gaza Strip struck inside Israel on Wednesday, causing neither casualties nor damage, an Israeli police spokesman said.

The rocket fire came as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Israel and the Palestinian territories. He is scheduled to visit Gaza on Thursday.