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Arab Ministers Meet in Cairo over Syria

Arab foreign ministers are to gather on Monday in Cairo for talks focused mainly on Syria, a day after its fractured opposition agreed a breakthrough deal to close ranks.

Foreign ministers and senior diplomats of the 22-member body will be joined by Lakhdar Brahimi, the international envoy for Syria, for talks at 1500 GMT, a day after Syria's deeply divided opposition agreed to unite against President Bashar Assad, electing a moderate Muslim cleric as leader.

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Syria Fighting Rages on Turkish Border, near Golan Line

Syrian aircraft bombed the strategic border town of Ras al-Ain on Monday, killing at least four people and sending panicked residents fleeing into Turkey, an AFP photographer reported.

Fighting also raged close to the armistice line on the Golan Heights where a stray mortar round on Sunday prompted the first retaliatory fire by Israel since the 1973 Middle East war, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

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U.S. Declares Support for United Syrian Opposition

The United States late Sunday declared its support for the united Syrian opposition after various groups opposed to the government of President Bashar Assad decided to come together following talks in Doha, Qatar.

"We look forward to supporting the National Coalition as it charts a course toward the end of Assad's bloody rule and the start of the peaceful, just, democratic future that all the people of Syria deserve," State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.

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Mansour Heads to Cairo to Chair Arab League Ministerial Council Meetings

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour headed on Monday to Cairo to preside over two meetings for the Arab League Ministerial Council, which Lebanon took over its chairmanship on September 5.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported that Mansour will chair the Arab League Foreign Affairs meeting and a meeting between European-Arab Foreign Ministers, which will tackle the joint cooperation.

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U.N. Chief Warns Israel-Syria Tensions Could Escalate

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon appealed Sunday to Israel and Syria to ease tensions on their disputed Golan Heights frontier amid warnings that conflict in Syria could spread.

Israel fired warning shots into Syria after a mortar from the Syrian side hit an Israeli position in the Golan, officials said.

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Barak Warns Hamas over Rockets, Syria over Cross-Border Fire

Israel warned the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Sunday it will pay a "heavy price" for the latest barrage of rocket attacks into the Jewish state and that the conflict could escalate.

"Hamas is responsible for the rocket fire and all other attempts to harm our soldiers and civilians, even when other groups participate. And it is Hamas that will pay the heavy price," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

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Israel Fires Warning Shots into Syria

Israeli troops fired warning shots into Syria Sunday, the army said in a statement, in what public radio said was the first Israeli fire directed at the military in the Golan Heights area since the 1973 war.

"A short while ago, a mortar shell hit an IDF post in the Golan Heights adjacent to the Israel-Syria border, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria. In response, IDF soldiers fired warning shots towards Syrian areas," the army said in a statement.

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Zgheib: No Decision Taken by Families of Abducted Pilgrims to Rally in Front of Syria, Iran Embassies

The key to resolving the abduction of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria lies in Turkey's hands, not Syria and Iran, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case, told the daily: “The families of the pilgrims have not yet taken the decision to stage a protest in front of the Syrian and Iranian Embassies in Beirut.”

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Charbel: No New Findings Reached in Case of Death Threats against Mustaqbal MPs

Security agencies have not reached any conclusive evidence in their investigation in the death threats directed against Mustaqbal bloc MPs, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told the daily: “No new findings have been reached in the case.”

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Cleric Ahmed al-Khatib Elected Head of New Opposition Bloc as Syria Dissidents Strike Unity Deal

Syrian opposition factions which agreed on Sunday in Qatar to form a new coalition to fight President Bashar Assad have elected cleric Ahmed al-Khatib to head the bloc, dissidents said.

Khatib, a moderate originally from Damascus who quit Syria three months ago, will lead the National Coalition of Forces of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition, formed after the Syrian National Council agreed to the new group.

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