Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon will remain committed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing ex-premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

“It is not in our hand to eliminate … the tribunal by any means and we will proceed in this,” Miqati said in an interview with CNN.

The Syrian foreign ministry said Monday that Damascus recognizes a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital within the borders in effect prior to the 1967 Six-Day War.

"Syria recognizes a Palestinian state within the June 4, 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as its capital, and on the basis of the preservation of Palestinian legitimate rights," a statement said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Monday that the developments in Syria demonstrated that it is impossible to carry on with the security approach over the country’s anti-regime protests.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “A new approach should be adopted through resorting to dialogue.”

Qatar's ambassador to Damascus, Zayed al-Khayarine, has quit Syria and the embassy has suspended its work, an official from the Qatari delegation told Agence France Presse on Monday.

"The diplomats have left Syria and work has been suspended until further notice," the official said, declining to be identified.

A clutch of European Union foreign ministers called for change in Syria on Monday, with Britain's chief diplomat telling President Bashar al-Assad that he must reform or stand down.

"The situation remains very serious and, if anything, is deteriorating," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

The Syrian army on Sunday set its sights on the town of Zabadani near the Lebanon border as it pressed ahead in its campaign to overcome an anti-regime revolt, a human rights activist said.

In the east, on the frontier with Iraq, security forces were also reported to be preparing to intervene in al-Bukamal after one man was reported killed there on Saturday.

Two Syrian officials are among the names included in new arrest warrants to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa reported Sunday.

It quoted sources close to the March 14-led opposition as saying that two Syrian officials will be accused of involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.

Hundreds of Syrian dissidents debated strategies to oust Bashar Assad's regime Saturday in Istanbul as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for a halt to the "brutal" repression of protests.

A simultaneous gathering scheduled to take place in Damascus was cancelled after at least 28 civilians were killed, including 16 in the capital, in demonstrations on Friday, activists said.

The seven Estonians who were kidnapped in Lebanon for four months revealed that they were held captive in Lebanon and Syria, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

They told Agence France Presse during a press conference in the Estonian capital Tallinn: “We were held in three different secret locations by the eight terrorists, in both Lebanon and Syria. The big advantage was we were together, and that unity gave us the strength to believe we would see a happy end.”

Syria has increased its rate of supplying Hizbullah with arms, including long-range missiles, which may lead to instability in the region, reported the British The Times newspaper on Friday.

It reported western and Middle Eastern intelligence sources as saying that the party was also provided with eight Scud D missiles that carry a range of 700 kilometers.