Ecuador said Thursday it has not offered Bashar Assad asylum amid speculation the embattled Syrian president was weighing Latin America as a place of refuge.

"Totally denied," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account. "No Syrian citizen has requested asylum in Ecuador, much less its current president."

At least 42,000 people have been killed in violence since an uprising broke out against the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad in March last year, a monitoring group said on Thursday.

"At least 29,455 civilians have been killed, as have 1,426 troops who defected to the opposition and 10,551 soldiers," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Britain will press its European partners next week to amend the arms embargo on Syria to allow them to provide weapons to rebels fighting the regime, Europe minister David Lidington said Thursday.

"Having successfully amended the EU arms embargo (and sanctions package) by setting a three-month renewal period, we will make fresh arguments in support of amending the arms embargo ahead of the March 2013 deadline in a way that offers sufficient flexibility to increase practical support to the Syrian opposition," Lidington said in a written statement to parliament.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday over new Jewish settlements but both were at pains to stress their unshakable ties.

On a visit that had risked being overshadowed by the diplomatic storm that has strained relations with close allies, Netanyahu joined Merkel for a meeting between most of their cabinet ministers after a private dinner late Wednesday.

The European Union called in Israel's ambassador on Thursday to express its concerns over his country's plans to build thousands of new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

A spokeswoman said Ambassador David Walzer met Pierre Vimont, number two in the European External Action Service, the EU's diplomatic service, who underlined "the EU's concern about the Israeli announcement."

Moroccan human rights groups on Thursday announced the launch of a national campaign to free more than 70 "political prisoners," particularly jailed members of the "February 20" protest movement.

The movement was formed last year during the mass uprisings sweeping the region by youths demanding democratic reform and action on a wide range of social grievances.

In an army barracks seized by rebels in northern Syria, Abu Islam heads a new unit that looks into complaints against insurgents for abuses such as intimidation, extortion and vandalism.

"We need an organized system that works better than before, to eliminate bad behavior by (rebel) Free Syrian Army fighters and civilians," Abu Islam told an AFP correspondent in al-Bab.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is still a "serious partner" for peace despite his successful bid for U.N. non-state membership, Israeli President Shimon Peres told Agence France Presse in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

"I tried to influence him not to do it right now. I told him: look it's not the proper time to do it," Peres said. "But I still believe he's a serious partner and a serious man and I have respect for him."

Iraq wants a new start to improve its strained relations with Turkey and is extending an olive branch to its neighbor, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in an interview published on Thursday.

"The current situation does not satisfy anyone, neither the Iraqi nor the Turkish people," Maliki was quoted as saying by Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper in an interview conducted in Baghdad.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad should be "brought to justice" if his regime uses chemical weapons to combat the armed revolt in his country.

"I have expressed my concerns to the Syrian government and I have sent a letter to President Assad two days ago," Ban told a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad.