U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was due in Algiers later Wednesday at the start of a North African tour expected to be dominated by the threat posed by al-Qaida.

Jihadist violence has plagued the vast Sahel-Sahara region since the 2011 overthrow of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, prompting a French-led military intervention in Algeria's southern neighbor Mali in January last year.

A reformed Moroccan Salafi-jihadist sheikh, jailed for life over the 2003 Casablanca bombings, led Friday prayers in the king's presence in Tangiers, a first since receiving a royal pardon in 2011.

King Mohammed VI freed scores of Muslim extremists jailed in connection with the Casablanca attacks after Arab Spring protests swept the country in 2011, among them four radical Salafist leaders including Mohammed Fizazi.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Jordan's King Abdullah II Wednesday in a fresh bid to keep his Middle East peace bid on track, amid fears Israel may renege on a vow to free Palestinian prisoners.

Flying in from an interrupted visit to Rome, Kerry was also to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Amman in a bid to "continue to narrow the gaps" between the two sides, his spokeswoman said.

About 500 migrants stormed across the border fence from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Melilla Tuesday in one of the biggest such crossings in years, a government official there said.

About 1,000 Africans rushed the triple-layer fence separating the Spanish city from Morocco in a "violent" assault around 0700 GMT and half of them made it across, said the Spanish governor of Melilla, Abdelmalik El Barkani.

Iran's ambassador, Ghazanfar Roknabadi, said Friday that he delivered a letter to Lebanese authorities protesting a recent statement made by Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq against Tehran.

The diplomat told reporters after meeting Premier Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail that the official letter of protest was made over al-Mashnouq's remarks against Tehran's regime at the meeting of Arab Interior Ministers in Morocco.

Security forces have broken up a Spanish and Moroccan network suspected of sending jihadist fighters to battle Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, arresting seven suspects, Madrid said Friday.

Spain's government said it was the "most important" cell it had detected sending jihadists to Syria and other conflict zones.

Interior Miniser Nouhad al-Mashnouq stated on Tuesday that Lebanon has taken a “clear position” on all forms of extremist terrorism.

He added in statement: “We understand Saudi Arabia's recent designation of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah in the kingdom, and al-Nusra Front as terrorist.”

An alleged victim of a suspected British pedophile on trial in Morocco fainted in court Tuesday as the case was adjourned for a fifth time, a rights activist who attended the hearing told Agence France Presse.

The 6-year-old girl passed out at the courthouse in the northern town of Tetouan when she saw Robert Bill, who is accused of kidnapping and attempting to rape her, said Mohammed Benaissa, who heads the Northern Observatory for Human Rights.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq established a two-stage plan to resolve the situation at Roumieh prison and improve the conditions of the inmates, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

“I will rehabilitate the facility and dismantle the state that was established in it,” Mashnouq said in comments published in the newspaper.

Police stopped more than 1,600 migrants trying to cross the border from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta on Tuesday, an official said.

The migrants were the latest in a tide of desperate people trying to breach the frontiers with Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish-held cities perched on the north African coast.