President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a fresh appeal Saturday for dialogue "for a peaceful transition according to the constitution", while accusing the opposition of blocking attempts to end the crisis that has shaken Yemen for the past 10 months

In a message marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha, Saleh invited the opposition to "sit at the negotiating table to resolve disputed questions related to the implementation" of a transition plan drafted by Gulf monarchies.

Sudan has lodged a fresh complaint with the U.N. Security Council detailing South Sudan's alleged support for rebels in its war-torn border states, just four months after partition, state media reported Saturday.

Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, provided "detailed, confirmed information explaining the support of the government of the south for the rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile," the SUNA news agency reported.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman warned of “consequences” on the U.S.-Lebanese bilateral ties if Beirut refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Feltman told al-Arabiya satellite TV network that Washington will have to take harsh measures if the Lebanese failed to pay their share to the STL that is set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.

The Palestinian leadership faces decisions about the peace process that will "change the face of the region," presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said on Thursday.

"The coming weeks and months will be crucial and form an important crossroads, particularly in terms of the peace process in the region," the spokesman for president Mahmud Abbas told Agence France Presse.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare is suffering from an advanced stage of diabetes, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Thursday.

Bellemare has isolated himself in a room in Canada away from the people’s sight over his “serious illness,” it said.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon arrived Wednesday in Libya for a surprise visit, an airport official told Agence France Presse, his first since the uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

Earlier U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban would spend one day in Tripoli to meet officials in the National Transitional Council who ousted Gadhafi and representatives of civic group.

A global conference aimed at mapping out the future of war-torn Afghanistan after Western troops depart opened in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Representatives from 20 countries joined aid agency members at the Istanbul talks almost 10 years after the Taliban were driven out of power in Kabul.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen made a surprise visit to Tripoli on Monday, saying he foresaw no major role left for the alliance in Libya hours before its air mission was due to end officially.

His visit comes seven months after Western powers fired the first barrage of missiles against Gadhafi forces in an air war that played a major role in ousting the veteran dictator.

NATO was on Monday formally ending its Libya mission, which it has hailed as one of its "most successful" yet after its air strikes playing a key role in the overthrow of now-slain despot Moammar Gadhafi.

The no-fly zone and naval blockade, enforced by NATO since March 31, will end at 11:59 pm Libyan time (21:59 GMT), as stipulated by a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that closed the mandate authorizing military action.

At least 37 people were killed Friday as Syrian security forces opened fire, encircled mosques and carried out arrests in a bid to break up anti-regime protesters who are now calling for a no-fly zone in Syria to protect civilians and soldiers deserting the army, the Syrian Revolution General Commission said.

"Eight civilians were killed in various neighborhoods of Hama, 11 others in the city of Homs and one civilian was killed in Qusayr, in the region of Homs," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier on Friday in a statement.