European and Arab U.N. members on Saturday started rewriting a proposed Security Council resolution condemning Syria's deadly crackdown on dissent after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria.

European countries said the withdrawal highlighted the need for U.N. action. France's foreign minister contacted his Russia counterpart in a bid to overcome Moscow's resistance to the draft resolution officially presented on Friday, diplomats said.

Around 15,000 people Saturday thronged a city in the Russian Urals in rally organized by labor groups to show mass working class support for Vladimir Putin's bid for a new Kremlin term, police said.

The rally in Yekaterinburg appeared to be a move by the authorities and trade unions to show Putin retains broad workers' support after the mass protests against his rule mainly attended by the Moscow middle class.

European and Arab nations on Friday circulated a new draft resolution on Syria at the U.N. Security Council calling for backing for an Arab League plan under which President Bashar al-Assad would have to stand down.

Morocco presented a draft resolution to the 15-nation body -- drawn up by Arab states with Britain, France and Germany -- that seeks to end months of U.N. deadlock over Syria.

Four Russian servicemen and five Islamist rebels were killed Friday in a clash in the North Caucasus region of Dagestan, one of the deadliest outbreaks of violence there in months, officials said.

"The active phase of the battle is over," a local security official told the Interfax news agency, adding that three Russian servicemen had also been injured in the fighting.

Russia on Friday disqualified Vladimir Putin's liberal challenger Grigory Yavlinsky from the March 4 presidential ballot, in a move slammed by his supporters as undermining the legitimacy of the polls.

Russia's central elections commission said it could not accept nearly a quarter of the registration signatures gathered by Yavlinsky's Yabloko (Apple) party because they were either photocopies of originals or fakes.

A Syrian opposition figure on Thursday called on the Arab League to hold talks with Russia before turning to the United Nations for intervention in the Syria crisis.

"We hope to see Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi head to Moscow before New York," said Haitham Mannaa of the Syrian National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, the second largest coalition after the Syrian National Council.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Thursday the importance of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that the Arab League deal is the only solution available, reported the Russian news agency Novosti.

“I discussed importance of a political solution according to the Arab League plan”, Jumblat said to LBC television later Thursday night, adding that “ I know that we have entered into violence and counter violence in Syria, But Russia has to condemn the Syrian regime for the violence because it was the initiator.”

Outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev suffered a rude jolt Wednesday when a student asked him if he was ready to stand trial for decisions taken during his rule and even face execution like ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The youth challenged Medvedev during a meeting with students, asking if he would shoulder the blame for protests that erupted over a planned job-swap which will see his mentor Prime Minister Vladimir Putin run for the presidency.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday left for the Russian capital Moscow aboard a private plane, state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency did not elaborate any further.

Russia plans to deploy Iskander missiles on the European Union's border later this year, a source in its western Baltic Fleet told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday.

A source told the news agency that senior naval staff had confirmed plans to assign personnel for a naval unit set to service the missile complexes in the Kaliningrad exclave that borders EU members Poland and Lithuania.