A Japanese reporter was killed after coming under fire from up to 15 apparently pro-government troops in the conflict-wracked Syrian city of Aleppo, her colleague said Tuesday.

Veteran war reporter Mika Yamamoto died after being shot in the neck as she covered the anti-regime movement in the city, her long-time collaborator Kazutaka Sato told Japanese broadcasters.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that if Syria were to move or use its chemical weapons it would be a "red line" that would change his perspective on how to respond to the conflict.

Obama said he had not ordered U.S. military intervention "at this point," but warned that the United States was "monitoring the situation very carefully, and we have put together a range of contingency plans.

French President Francois Hollande insisted Monday that there can be no political solution for Syria unless President Bashar Assad steps down from power.

There "cannot be a political solution without the departure of Bashar Assad," Hollande told the new U.N. peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, in a meeting, according to a statement issued by the Elysee.

Libyan authorities arrested the key suspect behind two deadly car blasts and three of his accomplices, the interior ministry said on Monday, identifying them as Gadhafi loyalists.

"The key suspect was arrested and admitted that he was directly responsible (for Sunday's attacks in Tripoli) along with four other people," Deputy Interior Minister Omar al-Kadhrawi told a news conference.

The end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan gave way to an involuntary fast on Sunday in the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo, with food and the money to buy it in increasingly short supply.

On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of Ramadan and one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar, Aleppo's Shaar roundabout is usually packed with people shopping and visiting relatives.

Syria lashed out on Monday at comments by new international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi describing the increasingly brutal 17-month conflict as a civil war.

"To speak of civil war in Syria contradicts reality and is found only in the head of conspirators," the foreign ministry said in a statement published by the official SANA news agency.

Iraq insisted on Monday that its trade with neighboring Iran was above board, and denied reports that it was helping the Islamic republic skirt sanctions by smuggling oil and secretly moving cash.

Ali Moussawi, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said that Baghdad's trade and dealings with Tehran were below "the permitted level" for neighboring countries, and dismissed claims Iraq was selling oil on Iran's behalf as a "big lie".

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday was to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East that has seen an influx of refugees from the conflict in neighboring Syria.

The two were scheduled to meet at 4:15 pm (2015 GMT) at the vice president's residence in the U.S. capital, the White House said, without providing further details.

French President Francois Hollande was due later Monday to meet with the new United Nations peace envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, Hollande's office said.

Brahimi, a veteran diplomat troubleshooter, was named on Friday to take over from Kofi Annan after Annan quit because of the lack of international support for his peace plan.

A high-ranking Syrian military official died last week at a Russian military hospital and the body was covertly transported to Damascus, well-informed sources told the government-funded Russia Today television.

“The Syrian military figure died of serious wounds incurred during the acts of violence that have been raging there since months,” the sources told Russia Today.