An Appeals Court will soon decide the fate of Lebanese leftist militant Georges Abdallah, who has been jailed for nearly three decades in France, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said there was a general belief that a decision would be taken by the court on Feb. 28 to release him.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Saturday called for urgent action to bring about a power transfer in Syria that excludes President Bashar Assad.

"Given the enormous price paid already by the Syrian people... it is more urgent than ever to act to overcome differences in favor of a political transition," Le Drian told a security forum in the United Arab Emirates.

France does not rule out the possibility of labeling Hizbullah as a terrorist organization in light of Bulgaria's accusation against it of being involved in the 2012 Burgas bus attack, reported An Nahar daily Saturday.

French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Philippe Lalliot said that the European Union may discuss this issue should one of the EU ministers make such a proposal, said the daily.

A court in Turkey on Friday sentenced a French-Turkish student to more than five years in prison for "terrorist propaganda" but allowed her to return to France pending an appeal, her lawyer said.

The lawyer, Inayet Aksu, said the court in the northwestern city of Bursa had sentenced Sevil Sevimli, 21, to five years and two months in prison but freed her until her planned appeal and did not require that she stay in Turkey.

French President Francois Hollande wrapped up his two-day trip to India on Friday with a call for more investment and trade between the countries as he met with business leaders.

Hollande, making his first trip to Asia since taking office last year, said that trade between India and France was barely 8.0 billion euros ($11 billion) annually -- far from an objective of 12 billion euros set in 2008.

Iraq has freed on bail a French reporter held for three weeks after taking unauthorized photos in Baghdad, an Iraqi security official and the head of the Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate said on Thursday.

"We released him, but still have many doubts about him," the senior Iraqi security official said on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday praised the "successful" intervention by France to root out Islamic rebels in northern Mali, and urged Malian leaders to organize elections.

Speaking ahead of talks with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Kerry said Mali would be among issues discussed during their first meeting at the State Department.

France has said it will hand back seven old master paintings that hang in state galleries taken from two Jewish families during World War II.

The oil works were destined to be displayed in a gallery Adolf Hitler had planned. It ends years of struggle for the two families, whose claims were all validated by the French prime minister last year.

France said Thursday it was very concerned about Iran's "persistent refusal" to come clean about its nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at producing an atomic bomb.

The comment came after talks with Iran failed yet again to reach a deal on enhanced inspections of Tehran's nuclear program, two weeks before a major meeting with world powers.

French President Francois Hollande embarked on a fresh push Thursday to clinch a $12-billion sale of Rafale fighter jets as he held talks in India on his first visit to Asia since taking office.

The Socialist president was accompanied by a high-powered delegation of five ministers including Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and the chiefs of more than 60 top French companies.