Syria's regime accused al-Qaida of being behind a deadly attack in Hama and criticized Turkey for sheltering what it called "terrorists," in a message to the U.N. aired by state television Tuesday.

"Armed terrorist groups headed by al-Qaida targeted citizens yesterday in the town of Salmiyeh in a cowardly terrorist act and destroyed the national hospital," the foreign ministry said in a letter to the U.N. secretary general and head of the Security Council.

At least 23 soldiers and pro-regime militiamen have been killed, and dozens wounded, in three days of fierce clashes in the central city of Homs, a flashpoint in Syria's conflict, a watchdog said Tuesday.

"We have reports from the military hospital in Homs of up to 130 soldiers and pro-regime fighters killed or wounded in the past three days," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Iraqi authorities claimed on Tuesday to have freed 888 prisoners in two weeks to placate month-long rallies in the country's Sunni areas that have hardened opposition against the Shiite prime minister.

The demonstrations come amid a political crisis that has pitted Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners just months ahead of provincial elections.

Russia expressed fear on Tuesday that the conflict in Syria between President Bashar Assad and rebel forces that began nearly two years ago could be protracted with no clear outcome.

"You know at first the forecasts were two to three months, four, and it is already two years," Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bodganov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

A group of around 150 people gathered in front of the German embassy in Ankara on Tuesday, protesting against the deployment of Patriot missiles near the Syrian border.

Demonstrators chanted slogans, including "Germany, take your Patriots and get out of Turkey!"

Syrian warplanes and tanks pounded rebel strongholds in Damascus province on Tuesday, a watchdog said, as a pro-regime daily reported clashes in a camp housing Palestinian refugees.

Fighter jets launched strikes on the town of Douma, northeast of Damascus, and overflew parts of Eastern Ghuta region, home to some of the rebel Free Syrian Army's fiercest and best-organized groups, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged solidarity with the Palestinians on his first trip to Gaza on Tuesday, and backed reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah.

Najib, who entered via the Rafah crossing from Egypt along with his Foreign Minister Anifah Aman and other officials, was met by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.

A wave of attacks in and around Baghdad and in northern Iraq killed 17 people and wounded dozens of others on Tuesday, shattering a relative calm after a spate of deadly attacks last week.

The violence comes amid a political crisis that has pitted Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners and with more than four weeks of anti-government protests in Sunni majority areas hardening opposition against the Shiite leader's rule.

Bahrain's King Hamad has called for a new round of all-party talks, previously shunned by the opposition, the government's Information Affairs Authority said.

King Hamad's call follows last month's plea for dialogue made by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, as protests continue in the kingdom despite a heavy-handed crackdown on demonstrations in March 2011.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon and his Syria conflict envoy hit out Monday at "outside powers" for providing arms to rebels and the government that are fueling the murderous death toll.

The U.N. secretary-general and U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi both expressed "anguish" at the carnage in the 22-month-old conflict and the major powers' failure to agree to a stance on the war to push the two sides into talks, said Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky.