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Syrian Opposition Invited to Arab Summit

The opposition Syrian National Coalition has been invited to the Arab summit this week, bringing the rebels closer to filling Syria's seat in the Arab League, the group's Qatar envoy said Sunday.

The invitation was revealed as differences over the participation of the opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the summit emerged during a ministerial preparatory meeting on Sunday.

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Kerry Warns Iraq PM on Iran-Syria Overflights

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pressed Iraq to stop allowing Iranian flights apparently carrying military equipment through its airspace headed to Syria, on a surprise visit to Baghdad on Sunday.

Kerry warned Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that Washington was "watching what Iraq is doing", the highest-level criticism yet of Baghdad for not inspecting flights which Tehran insists are carrying humanitarian supplies.

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Israel Arrests West Bank Teens over Stone Attack on Car

Israel's Shin Bet security service said on Sunday it had arrested five Palestinian teenagers on suspicion of involvement in a stone-throwing attack which critically injured an Israeli toddler.

The domestic security agency said the suspects, aged 16-17, confessed to stoning vehicles driven by Israeli settlers near the Palestinian village of Haris, in the northern West Bank, on March 14.

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France's Le Point Magazine: Rumor about Assad's Death Invades the Internet

A rumor about the death of Syrian President Bashar Assad was massively shared on social media websites on Sunday, the French weekly magazine Le Point reported.

"News about Assad being shot dead by his Iranian bodyguard have not been confirmed yet,” the magazine said, revealing that the opposition's Free Syrian Army has denied such reports.

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Syria Opposition Refuses Chief Khatib's Resignation, FSA Says Will Not Recognize Hitto

The Syrian National Coalition has refused the resignation of its leader Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, the opposition bloc said in a statement released hours after he announced he was quitting.

Neither the Coalition's presidential office nor its general assembly has accepted Khatib's resignation. "They are asking Mr Moaz al-Khatib to go back to his work as the president of the Coalition," the English-language statement said.

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Rebels Seize Jordan-Syria Border Area

Rebels fighting President Bashar Assad's regime have seized a 25-kilometer (15 miles) strip of land stretching from the Jordan border to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a watchdog said on Sunday.

"Fighters loyal to Al-Nusra Front, Al-Yarmuk Brigade, Al-Mutaz Billah Brigade and others took control of Al-Rai military checkpoint," east of Sahem al-Golan town in the southern province of Daraa, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

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Iran Denies Link to Spy Cell Arrests in Saudi

Iran has denied any link to a spy cell dismantled in Saudi Arabia, after Riyadh said an Iranian is among 18 suspects arrested on charges of espionage for a foreign country, media reported on Sunday.

"This is without any foundation. It is a scenario that is being repeated... for domestic consumption," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

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Israel Vows 'Immediate' Answer to Fire from Syria

Israel's new Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Sunday vowed an "immediate" answer to all Syrian gunfire onto the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, saying the Damascus regime was responsible.

"Every violation of Israeli sovereignty and shooting from the Syrian side will immediately be answered by silencing the source of fire," he said in a statement.

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John Kerry in Baghdad on Surprise Visit

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made a surprise trip to Baghdad on Sunday to push Iraq for more help over the conflict in Syria amid claims of waning American clout barely a year after US troops left.

The visit, his first to Iraq since taking office, will also focus on concerns in Washington that months of protests in the country's Sunni-majority provinces will give militant groups including al-Qaida room to maneuver.

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Israel Dismantles Palestinian Protest Camp

Hundreds of Israeli police dismantled a Palestinian protest camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem overnight, activists and police said on Sunday.

Activists set up the camp, which they dubbed Bab al-Shams or "Gate of the Sun" in Arabic, near the West Bank Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in a bid to draw attention to Israeli plans to boost building in the area known as E1.

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