Turkish court on Tuesday ordered the detention of six former generals accused of involvement in a military coup in 1997, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The detentions are part of a probe into the bloodless coup that toppled the country's first Islamist-led government and come amid a growing standoff between the powerful military and the current Islamist-led rulers.

Israel expects foreign diplomatic pressure on Turkey to stop it trying four Israeli commanders over the killing of nine Turkish activists in a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound ship.

"I imagine that diplomatic pressure will be put on Turkey to withdraw this action... foreign not Israeli," deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, told state-run Channel One TV on Monday.

Syrian al-Ahrar party secretary general Ibrahim al-Zohbi announced that his mediation with the abductors of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Aleppo has ended.

“I ended my meditation for several reasons, mostly because the Lebanese government is dealing in an unprofessional manner with the incident,” according to a statement issued by his press office.

Speaker Nabih Berri sought on Monday to appease the angry families of Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria, saying sources from the Syrian opposition and Turkish officials have confirmed that they are still alive.

In remarks to several Beirut dailies, Berri said reports and “rumors” that the 11 men, who were kidnapped in the northern province of Aleppo last week, were executed are baseless.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri proposed to pay a ransom to the abductors of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in exchange for their release, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

The daily said that Hariri’s proposal facilitated negotiations with the kidnappers.

An audio recording for 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria will be released soon, the International Human Rights Organization and a Syrian mediator said, as outgoing Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun announced receiving information claiming that the abductees might comprise non-civilian individuals.

Rebel Brig. Gen. Hussameddine al-Awwak, who described himself as a mediator, told LBC that the abductees comprise five Hizbullah commanders, including a man called Hussein Hammoud, noting that their bus was intercepted by the kidnappers for making several stops near Free Syrian Army bases and because the passengers had “suspicious surveillance binoculars.”

The 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Aleppo are in a good condition and will be released by tomorrow night, spokesman of the Syrian al-Ahrar party Naser Doqmaq revealed on Saturday.

“The abducted Lebanese are in a good condition but the latest developments in Syria postponed their release,” Doqmaq said in statement.

Hundreds of Kuwaitis including several MPs rallied outside the Syrian embassy on Saturday to condemn a reported massacre in the Syrian town of Houla and to demand the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Islamist MP Jamaan al-Harbash urged Turkey and all Arab states in the Gulf to act to provide protection for Syrian civilians, warning that if the governments cannot do so "they should open the door for people to fight."

Prime Minister Najib Miqati postponed his scheduled visit to Turkey on Saturday to follow up the abduction of the 11 pilgrims in Syria.

“I have decided to postpone my visit as the contacts and the efforts to release the abducted Lebanese are still ongoing,” Miqati said in a statement issued by his press office.

Advisor to the Turkish president, Irshad Hormuzlu, denied on Saturday reports that Turkey had informed Lebanese authorities that the 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria have entered Turkey, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

He told VDL: “There is no definite information that they have entered Turkey.”