Dissident Syrian ex-premier Riad Hijab issued a new call on Friday for the arming of rebels fighting President Bashar Assad's rule after Western governments again opposed sending more than non-lethal aid.

Hijab, whose shock flight to Jordan with his family last August was the highest-profile defection from the Assad regime, said foreign arms shipments were the sole way to tilt the balance in the two-year-old conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Friday that Moscow will not push Syrian President Bashar Assad to quit, saying it would be against Russian policy and in any case would be futile.

"It is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide," Lavrov said in a BBC interview.

Egyptian police withdrew on Friday from their headquarters in Port Said that has been the target of protesters and transferred its protection to the military, the Interior Ministry said.

"It has been decided to give the military the responsibility of securing the police headquarters," a statement said.

Israeli, Greek and U.S. warships began a joint two-week Mediterranean naval exercise codenamed "Noble Dina" on Thursday, the Israeli military said.

"Noble Dina, one of the navy's scheduled annual exercises, is part of the security cooperation between the Israeli navy and foreign naval forces," a statement said. Israel's military sees it "as an opportunity for mutual learning and for strengthening of the cooperation with its allies."

Policemen across Egypt staged a strike on Thursday to demand the resignation of the interior minister, saying they no longer wanted to be used as a political tool, security officials said.

The discontent began weeks ago with isolated pockets of protest, but by Thursday police were on strike in areas of Cairo, Alexandria, the Nile Delta, the Suez Canal provinces, southern provinces and the Sinai peninsula.

Video footage posted on the Internet Thursday showed some of a group of 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels the previous day, with one of them saying they were safe and being cared for, as the U.N. said it was trying to negotiate the troops' release.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted the video which shows six uniformed members of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), and an officer who identifies himself as a member of the Filipino battalion of the U.N.

President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Thursday urged Yemen's army and security forces brass to be vigilant in case enemies of the state try to undermine a national dialogue set to begin later this month.

The army and security forces must be "vigilant" and on the lookout "for the enemies of security, stability and unity in Yemen," ahead of the March 18 national dialogue, the official Saba news agency reported him as saying.

Syria's opposition National Coalition meets next week in Istanbul to discuss the formation of an interim government and the selection of its head, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Tuesday's meeting will focus on "the question of a government and its chief," said Walid al-Bunni, while stressing that the discussions were not expected to lead to the designation of an opposition prime minister.

Two Britons were kidnapped on Thursday by Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt's Sinai but released soon afterwards following negotiations with security officials, police chief Magdi Moussa told Agence France Presse.

"They have been released and are heading back to their place of accommodation," Moussa said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday hailed Turkish opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's backing for the revolt that began in Syria nearly two years ago, in a statement seen by Agence France Presse.

The statement comes after Assad met a Turkish opposition delegation.