The U.N. Security Council will soon agree to authorize 4,000 more troops to boost the African force battling resurgent Shebab rebels in Somalia, diplomats said Wednesday.

The council is likely to allow a new upper limit of about 22,000 troops for the African Union force amid mounting warnings over the Shebab militant threat after the Nairobi shopping mall attack last month.

Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran has never stopped 20 percent uranium enrichment, denying earlier claims of a temporarily halt, parliament's website reported Wednesday.

"Twenty percent uranium and nuclear plates are being produced inside the country and there has never been a halt in the production trend," Salehi was quoted as saying.

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday approved sending a special 250-strong military force to protect U.N. workers in increasingly chaotic Central African Republic, diplomats said.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon asked for the special force last week because of the anarchic conditions in the impoverished nation where rebels seized power in March.

The U.N. Security Council will hold emergency talks Monday on a new surge in fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in which a U.N. peacekeeper was killed, diplomats said.

France called for the meeting as U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned the killing of a Tanzanian peacekeeper in an offensive by DR Congo troops against M23 rebels north of the key city of Goma.

Arab nations on Saturday appealed to Saudi Arabia to reverse a decision to reject a seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Arab U.N. ambassadors made the appeal after an emergency meeting on Saudi Arabia's surprise announcement Friday that it would not take up a Security Council seat to protest the body's handling of the Syria war and other conflicts.

Cyprus said on Friday that it has approved the establishment of a support base on the Mediterranean island for chemical weapons inspectors deployed in war-hit Syria.

"The Council of Ministers has ratified the agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the U.N.-OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) for the establishment of a support base of the joint mission of U.N.-OPCW," said a government statement.

Saudi Arabia rejected membership of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, a day after it was elected to the body, accusing it of "double-standards" in resolving world conflicts.

"Work mechanisms and double-standards on the Security Council prevent it from carrying out its duties and assuming its responsibilities in keeping world peace," the foreign ministry said.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Lebanese leaders to fortify the “national institutions” and safeguard Lebanon from the repercussions of the Syrian turmoil, expressing concern over Hizbullah's involvement in battles in the neighboring country.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, the U.N. chief praised the endeavors carried out by President Michel Suleiman to maintain the dissociation policy, calling on all parties to abide by the Baabda declaration.

Saudi Arabia on Thursday won a U.N. Security Council seat for the first time in a new show of determination to make its voice heard, joining Chad, Chile, Lithuania and Nigeria in taking places on the key body.

All five countries stood unopposed in an election by the 193 member U.N. General Assembly. They will replace Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo on the 15-nation council on January 1.

Rebel groups executed at least 67 civilians and took hostage 200 others from Alawite villages in Syria in August, Human Rights Watch reported Friday, saying this constituted war crimes.

The Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam to which President Bashar Assad belongs.