The rebel Free Syrian Army announced on Wednesday the creation of a temporary military council with the aim of ousting the regime of President Bashar Assad and protecting civilians from his forces.

"Based on the requirements of this phase and the demands of the Syrian revolution, the Free Syrian Army is establishing a temporary military council," a statement said.

Yemeni troops killed seven suspected al-Qaida militants in an attack on their positions in Abyan province in the restive south, local government officials said on Wednesday.

The army launched a barrage of "artillery shells and Katyusha rockets" late Tuesday on suspected al-Qaida positions in the provincial capital Zinjibar and the adjacent town of Al-Kud, one official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Soldiers of the Free Syrian Army, defectors from the regular armed forces, attacked an air force intelligence base near the capital Damascus on Wednesday, activists said.

"The Free Army struck with rockets and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) the headquarters of air force intelligence which is located at the entrance of Damascus," the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said in a statement, adding smoke was rising from the area.

Syria on Tuesday released from jail more than 1,000 prisoners who had been involved in anti-regime protests, state-run television said, amid reports that a top dissident, Kamal Labwani who was jailed for 12 years in May 2007, was also freed.

"1,180 prisoners who had been involved in the incidents in Syria and who did not have blood on their hands were released today," the state broadcaster said in a news flash.

Bulldozers flanked by Israeli troops razed four Palestinian homes near the ancient city of Jericho on Tuesday, with Israel saying they endangered a nearby archaeological site.

Ammar Fakhouri, the owner of one of the buildings, told Agence France Presse it was the third time that Israel had demolished properties he owned.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council states said on Tuesday that they oppose a Syrian request for an emergency Arab summit on the bloody crisis in the country.

The GCC "sees that the request to hold an Arab summit at this time is useless," knowing that Arab foreign ministers will meet in Rabat on Wednesday, GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif al-Zayani said.

Turkey has abandoned hope that Syria will respond to international demands to halt violence and initiate democratic reforms, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

"We no longer expect the Assad government to show honest, persuasive, brave and determined leadership," Erdogan told his party's lawmakers. "No one expects him to respond to the demands of the international community anymore."

Three opposition MPs on Tuesday filed a request to question the Kuwaiti prime minister in parliament over allegations of graft involving MPs and illegal overseas money transfers.

The move came immediately after the government and its supporters in parliament succeeded in rejecting a similar request to grill Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmed al-Sabah, also over alleged corruption.

Kuwaiti MPs on Tuesday called on world countries to recognize the opposition Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and take action against the regime.

"We declare our support for the Syrian National Council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people," said a statement signed by 33 Kuwaiti MPs in the 50-member house.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Monday he will quit for "sure" after the government agrees with the opposition on a mechanism for implementing a power transfer plan.

In an interview with the French broadcaster France24, Saleh, who has been clinging to power for 33 years, said "sure, sure," when asked if he intends on stepping down.