Southern Damascus saw fresh clashes early on Friday, as army tanks battered rebel enclaves near the Syrian capital, a monitoring group said.

In northern Syria, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus in Aleppo province, killing four civilians, among them three university students, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Saudi Arabia has spared one of two Filipino men sentenced to death by beheading for separate killings, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said Friday.

Rodelio "Dondon" Lanuza is expected to walk free after more than 12 years in prison following the Saudi government's decision to pay 2.3 million rials ($614,000) in indemnity to the victim's kin, Binay announced on television.

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday said he had finished meeting all party representatives, and would soon be announcing who he would task to form the new coalition government.

The president "completed his marathon series of meetings today as part of the consultations for the formation of the next government," a statement from Peres's office read.

International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said Thursday he has no plan to return to Damascus and gave a guarded response to an offer by an opposition leader for talks with government figures.

"It is worthy of note," Brahimi said of a statement by Syrian National Council leader Moaz al-Khatib that he was "ready for direct discussions" outside of Syria.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said on Thursday that any talks on the country's political future must be about the departure of the regime of President Bashar Assad.

A day after SNC chief Moaz al-Khatib expressed openness to discussion with members of the regime, the political commission issued a statement reaffirming the group's charter that "any negotiation or dialogue must be about the departure of the regime and its pillars."

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon is gravely concerned about reports of an Israeli air strike on Syria but cannot independently verify what happened, a spokesman said Thursday.

On top of a protest to the United Nations, Syria has also complained to the U.N. Security Council about the raid, diplomats said.

European Union foreign ministers discussed Wednesday whether to lift an arms embargo on Syria, in order help the opposition and are expected to take a decision in mid-February.

Speaking at the close of talks between the ministers, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the bloc would "examine the system we have in place" ahead of their next February 18 meeting "to understand what we can do and can't do."

Egyptian authorities on Thursday detained a member of the Black Bloc militant group suspected of planning to carry out an Israeli-directed sabotage plan, the official MENA news agency said.

One person "belonging to the Black Bloc organization was arrested inside a building overlooking Tahrir Square carrying Israeli plans to target petrol companies and vital installations, maps of these places and instructions on setting fire to some places," MENA reported.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will discuss the carnage in Syria in meetings on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Syrian opposition chief Moaz al-Khatib, the White House said.

Biden will hold the meetings, and also see U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi at the Munich Security Conference on a trip that will also include talks with leaders of Germany, France and Britain.

The central committee of Algeria's ruling party relieved its chief Abdelaziz Belkhadem of his duties on Thursday, in the FLN's biggest internal crisis for a decade, an AFP journalist reported.

Members of the National Liberation Front held a vote of confidence, with 160 voting in favor of and 156 against the resignation of the secretary general, with seven spoiled ballot papers.