Mohammed ElBaradei, a leading figure in the opposition National Salvation Front, called Wednesday for urgent talks with Egypt's leadership to address the political crisis gripping the country.

"We want an immediate meeting between the president, the ministers of defense and interior, the ruling party, the Salafist movement and the National Salvation Front to take urgent measures to end the violence and begin a serious dialogue," ElBaradei said in a tweet.

Syria's opposition Wednesday accused the Damascus regime of exploiting "global inaction" to carry out crimes against humanity, such as the slaughter of nearly 80 men in the battlefront city of Aleppo.

The Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition alliance, in a statement called on international rights groups to investigate Tuesday's massacre in the northern city of Aleppo and "bring the killers to justice."

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi arrived in Germany on Wednesday for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel after days of unrest in his country.

Morsi was greeted with military honours and the two leaders are due to hold a joint press conference at 1345 GMT.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Iran to free a group of arrested journalists, saying their detention was part of a campaign of repression ahead of the June presidential election.

Iranian media reported last week that at least a dozen reformist journalists were rounded up in a string of operations for their alleged links to foreign Persian media.

International donors on Wednesday pledged more than the targeted $1.5 billion in aid for stricken Syrians, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said, warning of a "catastrophic" situation in the war-torn country.

"I am pleased to announce that pledges have exceeded the target... more than $1.5 billion have been pledged including the $184 million pledged by non-governmental organizations," Ban told a news conference in Kuwait.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation said Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have to drastically change tack if peace talks were to resume.

"Launching a serious political process to save the peace process requires a radical change in the policies of the next Israeli government," the PLO Executive Committee said in a statement issued after a meeting in Ramallah chaired by Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

Israel said on Wednesday it had released $100 million of the tariffs and tax monies it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which were frozen last year as punishment for the U.N. bid.

But an Israeli official said it was a one-off measure to ease the financial crisis faced by the Palestinians and was not a sign that the transfers would be renewed.

Canada on Tuesday ordered an Australian former bodyguard of slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi's third-born son to be deported.

The Immigration and Refugee Board Member Alicia Seifert was quoted by Canada's public broadcaster as saying Gary Peters was "complicit in war crimes."

The worsening Syrian war is "breaking up" the country while the international community watches, peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.

Diplomats inside a closed briefing by Brahimi said he had "no progress" to report in his efforts to establish talks on a political transition in the country where 22 months of conflict have left more than 60,000 dead.

There are still 200,000 armed fighters in "revolutionary brigades" in Libya, a top U.N. envoy said Tuesday, expressing fears that Mali's conflict could spillover into the country.

Foreign governments have raised concerns about security in Libya and U.N. envoy to the country Tarek Mitri said France's military campaign in Mali had opponents in Libya.