Attacks in Baghdad and northern Iraq on Sunday killed seven people, including four policemen, and wounded 16 others, officials said.

Near the main northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded as security forces searched a home, killing three policemen and wounding 15 people, police and medical sources said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday that time should not be wasted in the search for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, calling it "a real possibility".

"Two points are urgent: we shouldn't lose the opportunity because it will he replaced by great disappointment," Peres told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the banks of the Dead Sea in Jordan.

Syria's foreign minister said on Sunday that his government will take part in a peace conference in Geneva, terming it a "good opportunity for a political solution" to the civil war in Syria.

Walid Muallem also praised an Iraqi army operation against Sunni militants near the border with Syria, during a surprise visit to Baghdad that came as Iraqi authorities searched a Syria-bound aircraft.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday again pressed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to make concrete progress on economic reforms and rights, warning continued U.S. and global aid was at stake.

The Egyptians vowed that they had taken some steps, but Kerry "said we need to be able to show Congress that you've taken the necessary reforms," a senior State Department official said on the sidelines of an African Union summit.

Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is "still possible", Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday, hailing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive stalled talks.

In a speech to the World Economic Forum in the town of Al-Shunah on the banks of the Dead Sea in Jordan, Abbas called on Israel to "end the occupation of our lands", evacuate settlements and free Palestinian prisoners.

Two Orthodox bishops kidnapped in Syria last month are "in good health," though there is no news on their whereabouts, an opposition official told reporters Saturday in Istanbul.

"Two or three days ago, a doctor visited the two bishops. They are in good health," said Abdul Ahad Steipho, member of the main opposition's National Coalition and of its committee established to follow up on the kidnappings.

Iran's defense minister insisted on Saturday that the country has never sent "military forces" to Syria, reiterating its denial of allegations by Western powers backing Syrian rebels.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sent military forces to Syria and will never do so," Ahmad Vahidi said in a statement reported by Iranian media.

A car bomb targeting a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims north of Baghdad killed five people on Saturday, police and a doctor said, the second attack on Shiite Muslim faithful this week.

The bomb, which exploded on the highway from Balad to Samarra, also wounded 19 people, the sources said, adding that most of the casualties were Iranians.

Israel on Saturday accused Syrian forces of trying to provoke conflict as the two sides rowed over responsibility for a border clash.

Tensions around Golan Heights ceasefire zone between the two rivals have escalated since Syrian forces fired across the U.N.-patrolled ceasefire line and hit an Israeli military vehicle on Tuesday.

Israel on Saturday accused Syrian forces of trying to provoke conflict as the two sides rowed over responsibility for a border clash.

Tensions around Golan Heights ceasefire zone between the two rivals have escalated since Syrian forces fired across the U.N.-patrolled ceasefire line and hit an Israeli military vehicle on Tuesday.