Ten people were killed and 15 others wounded on Sunday when a bomb exploded outside a police station in the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma in the Syrian capital Damascus, a rights group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a toll of 10 dead and 15 wounded as a car bomb blew up outside the station in Bab Touma, where many in the minority community fear Islamists in the anti-Assad revolt.

Russian troops on Sunday reported killing 49 militants in a massive security sweep that followed angry comments from President Vladimir Putin about raging violence in the troubled North Caucasus.

The National Anti-Terror Committee said the operation was conducted across several republics of the volatile Muslim region and resulted the removal of some of the most "odious" guerrilla commanders and their followers.

Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi on Sunday urged the two sides in Syria's conflict to declare "unilateral" ceasefires for this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, following talks with President Bashar Assad.

"I appeal to everyone to take a unilateral decision to cease hostilities on the occasion of Eid al-Adha and that this truce be respected from today or tomorrow," Brahimi told reporters, referring to the four-day Muslim holiday starting on Friday.

Thousands of mourners participated in Sunday's funeral of slain Major General Wissam al-Hasan, chief of the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau, who was killed by a powerful car bombing on Friday blamed on the Damascus regime.

Anti-Syria opposition chief ex-premier Saad Hariri had called for a huge turnout for the funeral of the fallen general and thousands of people took part in the ceremony outside the Mohammed al-Amine Mosque in Beirut's Martyrs Square.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon contacted on Saturday Prime Minister Najib Miqati to express his “solidarity with the Lebanese people” after the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.

Ban "expressed strong solidarity with the people of Lebanon and commended the prime minister, the government and the president (Michel Suleiman) for their handling of the matter," the U.N. statement said.

Iran's foreign ministry on Saturday rejected a guilty plea by an Iranian-American man that he conspired with Iranian officials to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

Manssor Arbabsiar pleaded guilty on Wednesday at the New York federal court to attempting to hire a Mexican drug gang for $1.5 million to blow up the Saudi envoy in a restaurant he frequented in Washington.

Polling stations were poised to closed in the West Bank on Saturday after 12 hours of voting in the first Palestinian election since 2006, with voters casting their ballots in a municipal poll that was boycotted by Hamas.

After nine hours of voting, the Central Elections Commission (CEC) said the turnout was 35 percent in all areas except for the southern Hebron district where more than 40 percent of registered voters had shown up by the late morning.

The withdrawal of French combat troops from Afghanistan will happen "a bit more quickly than anticipated" and could be completed before the end of December, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Saturday.

Fabius was interviewed by French television BFM about the troop withdrawal while on a visit to Kabul.

Wayne Rooney shrugged off an own goal blunder to score twice as Manchester United maintained their Premier League title challenge with a 4-2 victory over Stoke on Saturday.

Rooney gifted Stoke a surprise early opener at Old Trafford, but he recovered to equalize and further goals from Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie extended the lead before Rooney's second brought up his 200th goal in club football.

Swansea got back on track as second half goals from Pablo Hernandez and Michu sealed a 2-1 win against Wigan at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.

Michael Laudrup's side had gone five league games without a victory amid growing rumors of player unrest at the Dane's tactics and management style, so this was a welcome success for the south Wales club.