Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants his allies in the Syrian regime to negotiate with the opposition for the staging of a free election, in an interview with Egyptian state television.

The two sides should "sit at the negotiations table to find a solution to the crisis, through mutual understanding," Ahmadinejad, who is on a visit to Egypt, said in the interview broadcast late Wednesday.

Leaders of Islamic states called for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian conflict through "serious dialogue" between the regime and its foes, as Iran voiced reservations, at a summit in Cairo on Thursday.

Leaders and representatives of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation also said they support efforts to help Mali "regain its territorial integrity," an apparent reference to France's military intervention in the African country.

An accidental blast at an ammunition depot in an army camp killed 10 civilians in Yemen's northwestern Haja province on Thursday, a security official and witnesses said.

"The explosion took place early Thursday at an ammunition depot in the camp of the 25th mechanized brigade in Abs," near the Red Sea, the official said adding that two children were among those killed.

Troops overran a rebel town and were locked in a second day of fierce fighting around Damascus on Thursday, a watchdog said, as Syria's opposition leader threatened to withdraw his peace initiative.

Muslim leaders at a summit in the Egyptian capital, meanwhile, worked on a draft resolution calling for "serious dialogue" between the opposition and government officials.

The U.S. military will maintain only one aircraft carrier in the Gulf instead of two due to potential deep budget cuts that could kick in next month, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.

For several years, the United States has kept two carriers deployed in the Gulf due to tensions with Iran, but uncertainty surrounding the Pentagon's budget forced the decision, officials said.

Syria's opposition coalition is seeking to take the country's U.N. seat from President Bashar Assad's government, its new U.S. representative said Wednesday.

Syrian National Council leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib has also received an invitation from the U.S. government to visit Washington and could seek meetings with top U.N. officials, coalition envoy Najib Ghadbian told Agence France Presse.

Israeli political and military leaders should be able to face charges in the event of alleged war crimes committed by soldiers, a commission of inquiry recommended in a report submitted on Wednesday.

"The law should lay out that commanders and their civilian superiors face direct criminal responsibility for crimes committed by their subordinates, or if they did not take all reasonable measures to prevent such crimes or bring the perpetrators to justice," said the report presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

U.S. officials Wednesday urged international donors to make good on pledges of more than $1.5 billion in aid for Syrians, warning that millions of people remained in dire need as the war rumbles on.

There are now some 763,000 refugees who have fled Syria for neighboring countries, while another 2.5 million are estimated to have been displaced inside the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama does not plan to use his coming trip to Israel to advance new proposals to break open the deadlock in peace talks with the Palestinians, the White House said Wednesday.

Obama will visit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time as president as soon as next month on a trip that also includes stops in the Palestinian territories and Jordan.

Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said Wednesday he would form a government of technocrats without political affiliations, after the murder of opposition leader Chokri Belaid sparked violent protests.

"I have decided to form a government of competent nationals without political affiliation, which will have a mandate limited to managing the affairs of the country until elections are held in the shortest possible time," Jebali said in a televised address to the nation.