Somalia's embattled government offered an open amnesty on Tuesday to Islamist Shebab fighters after the rebels made a surprise withdrawal from the famine-struck capital over the weekend.

The al-Qaida affiliated insurgents have waged a bloody war since 2007 to topple the Western-backed transitional government, which they had hemmed in to a portion of Mogadishu.

Informed sources have denied that Syria has sent to Lebanon for the second time arrest warrants against 33 Lebanese personalities in the lawsuit filed by former head of Lebanon’s General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed.

The sources told al-Mustaqbal daily published Tuesday that Syria only sent a detailed document on the identities of the 33 figures. They include judges, security officers, politicians, journalists and other Lebanese, Arab and foreign officials and individuals.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday pledged the world body's solidarity with Japan after its quake, tsunami and nuclear disasters and encouraged radiation evacuees to "hang in there.”

Travelling in the disaster-struck northeast, Ban became one of the most senior foreign leaders to visit the region close to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant, which is still leaking radiation.

Saudi Arabia recalled its envoy to Syria in a major escalation of international pressure Monday after security forces killed more than 50 people and the regime defended its crackdown on "outlaws."

The shock move by Riyadh, the Middle East's Sunni Muslim heavyweight, followed condemnation by Pope Benedict XVI and the Arab League over the continuing bloodshed.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon told Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday to immediately end his deadly military campaign against opponents, the United Nations said.

Ban also said the use of mass arrests must also be halted in Syria in the first contacts between the two since April.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) committee said that Iran and Hizbullah are involved in killing Syrian soldiers who refused to shoot at anti-regime protesters, the French radio station reported on Saturday.

The committee reported that it will publish a detailed report from 20 pages during the upcoming days.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy has ruled out Hizbullah allegations that its ownership of weapons has increased fivefold.

During his final press conference in New York, Le Roy said that Hizbullah is probably better organized but he ruled out that it owns fivefold of weapons it used to own before.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil described parliament’s adoption of a draft law on the delineation of Lebanon’s maritime border as an “achievement,” saying however, it was now time for the cabinet to issue decrees paving way for the exploration of oil and natural gas in the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

Bassil told As Safir daily published Friday that Premier Najib Miqati’s government should commit to its policy statement and issue the decrees that would give licenses for international companies to explore oil.

A group of eight international and local groups urged Lebanese authorities on Wednesday to cease the harassment of human rights activist Saadeddine Shatila for his work documenting torture by security forces.

Shatila, who is a member of the international human rights group Alkarama, was summoned by Lebanon’s military intelligence to their headquarters in Beirut at 8 a.m. on July 25, said a statement released by the organizations, including Alkarama, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

France said Thursday its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would return home for maintenance next week from the NATO-led mission over Libya, but insisted there would be no respite for Moammar Gadhafi.

The vessel, France's only aircraft carrier and Europe's biggest warship, will leave on August 10 to head for its home port of Toulon for several weeks of work, defense minister Gerard Longuet told Var-Matin newspaper.