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Mass Arrests in Daraa, Douma as Syria Protesters Plan Week 'to Break the Siege'

Syrian forces arrested more dissidents Sunday in the flashpoint southern town of Daraa and in a Damascus suburb under siege for a week, after two days of fresh bloodshed, activists said.

Anti-regime protesters appealed for new protests to launch a "week of breaking the siege" imposed on Daraa and the Douma suburb, and other towns facing deadly crackdowns.

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Russia Has 'Serious Doubts' West Not Targeting Gadhafi

Russia called for an immediate ceasefire in Libya Sunday and said it had "serious doubts" the West was not targeting Moammar Gadhafi and his family after Tripoli said the leader's son was killed.

"The claims of the coalition members that strikes over Libya do not have the physical destruction of Moammar Gadhafi and members of his family as their goal cause serious doubts," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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Turkey Warns Against Intervention in Syria, London Slams ‘Disgraceful’ Crackdown

Turkey is against foreign intervention in Syria and believes the unrest-hit country should solve its own problems, Anatolia news agency quoted Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying on Sunday.

"We should work to prevent the possibility (of a military intervention in Syria). Foreign intervention in a country like Syria with a heterogeneous social structure might cause unwanted consequences," Davutoglu said.

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GCC Calls Off Yemen Pact Signing Ceremony

The Gulf Cooperation Council said on Sunday that a ceremony to finalize a Yemeni pact ending three months of protests has been cancelled after embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh refused to sign.

"The ceremony that was supposed to be held (Sunday)... will not take place," said the press office of GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani, after the Gulf-brokered deal between Saleh and the opposition collapsed in tatters.

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Gadhafi Son Killed after Talks Offer Rejected

A NATO air strike killed Moammar Gadhafi's youngest son and three grandchildren but the strongman escaped unhurt, a Libyan spokesman said Sunday, after rebels and NATO spurned an offer for talks to end the crisis.

The house of Seif al-Arab Gadhafi, 29, "was attacked tonight with full power," government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told a news conference, announcing the deaths in the Saturday evening strikes.

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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Announce Own Party to Contest Polls

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, the country's best organized movement, on Saturday announced the formation of a party to contest up to half of parliament's seats in a September election.

Mohammed Hussein, the group's secretary general, said at a news conference that the movement's consultative council decided at a meeting to adopt a decision to form the new Freedom and Justice Party.

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4 Killed as Syrian Troops Take Key Daraa Mosque

Syrian army troops backed by tanks and three helicopters on Saturday took a prominent mosque that had been controlled by residents in a besieged southern city killing four people, a witness said.

The operation in the town of Daraa came a day after President Bashar Assad unleashed deadly force to crush a months-old revolt, killing at least 65 people, mostly in the border town.

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Libya Rebel Council Rejects Gadhafi’s Call for Talks

The Libyan opposition Transitional National Council (TNC) on Saturday rejected calls for talks by strongman Moammer Gadhafi, saying he had no role to play in the north African nation's future.

"The time for compromise has passed," said Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the transitional council that has shaped itself into a parallel government in the rebel-held eastern city of Benghazi.

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Six Killed During South Yemen Strike

Two servicemen and four civilians were killed and another 23 were wounded in south Yemen during a shutdown called by anti-government protesters on Saturday, officials said.

The ministry of defense said an officer and a soldier were killed and two more soldiers were wounded, but gave no further details, Agence France Presse reported.

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Top Military Officer: Gulf Belongs to Iran

A top Iranian military officer on Saturday denounced what he called an "Arab dictatorial front" and claimed that the "Persian Gulf has belonged to Iran forever", media reports said.

"The Arab dictatorial regimes in the Persian Gulf are unable to contain the popular uprisings," General Hassan Firouzabadi, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, was widely quoted as saying by Iranian media on Saturday.

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