King Abdullah on Saturday named his half-brother Prince Salman, who is governor of Riyadh, as Saudi Arabia's defense minister to succeed the late Crown Prince Sultan, state television al-Ekhbariya said.

Although Prince Salman served as governor for more than half a century, he has not previously held a ministerial post.

Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani said Saturday he opposes Turkey's military campaign against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq as it will fail to permanently end the conflict.

Barzani arrived in Ankara Thursday for talks focused on Turkey's ongoing operation against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Israel has freed six of 27 passengers and crew who were aboard two ships intercepted by its navy while trying to run the Jewish state's blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday.

Commandos boarded the Irish-flagged Saoirse (Freedom) and the Canadian ship Tahrir (Arabic for Liberation) in international waters off Gaza on Friday before the navy escorted them to the port of Ashdod, the military said.

Syria released on Saturday 553 people arrested during anti-regime protests to honor Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast that marks the climax of the annual hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, state news agency SANA said.

"On the occasion of (Eid) al-Adha, 553 people arrested during the events in Syria and whose hands are not stained by blood, have been freed," it said.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi warned on Saturday that the failure of a deal brokered by his organization to end violence in Syria would be "catastrophic" for the country and region.

"The failure of the Arab solution will have catastrophic consequences for the situation in Syria and the region," he said in a statement, while calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed.

Israel has freed six of 27 passengers and crew who were aboard two ships intercepted by its navy while trying to run the Jewish state's blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, an official said on Saturday.

Commandos boarded the Irish-flagged Saoirse (Freedom) and the Canadian ship Tahrir (Arabic for Liberation) in international waters off Gaza on Friday before the navy escorted them to the port of Ashdod, the military said.

Five Al- Qaida suspects were killed in artillery shelling by Yemen's army in the country's restive southern city of Zinjibar, officials said on Saturday.

"The army's 25th Mechanized Brigade fired artillery shells late Friday at an area in Zinjibar's east killing five Al- Qaida militants," an army official told AFP.

More than two million Muslims began massing Saturday on Saudi Arabia's Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of the largest annual pilgrimage.

Swarms of pilgrims who had spent the night in Mina, some 10 kilometers (six miles) northwest of Arafat surged through the roads leading to the mountain after midnight.

Damascus on Saturday strongly condemned Washington after the U.S. State Department advised Syrians against surrendering following an amnesty for those who give up weapons.

"The American administration disclosed again its blatant interference in Syria's internal affairs, and its policy which supports killing, in addition to its funding of the terrorist groups in Syria," SANA state news agency said citing a foreign ministry official.

Members of the U.N. Human Rights Council said Friday they seek to "shine a spotlight" on violations in Syria and will press ahead with investigations of the regime whether or not its monitors are allowed into the country.

A U.N. human rights fact-finding mission was barred entry to the violence-plagued state in August, and a subsequent U.N.-backed commission of inquiry has also been refused access, with its members instead traveling to border areas in neighboring countries to monitor abuses from there.