Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon leaves on Wednesday for talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, his first visit to Washington since taking office in March, the ministry said.

"During the visit the two men are expected to discuss current security, diplomatic and regional issues," it said.

Egyptian Islamist parties, including the president's, on Wednesday called for a "million-man march" on June 21 to counter a planned protest at the end of the month outside the presidential palace.

"Islamist parties have decided to organize a 'million-man march' in front of Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque (in a Cairo suburb) on Friday, June 21, under the slogan: 'Protect the revolution. Yes to peace, no to violence'," said President Mohamed Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, on its website.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called for better protection for peacekeepers in the Golan Heights against the growing threat from Syria but said it was "essential" that the mission remain.

Ban made the call as Austrian troops started withdrawing from the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) following attacks and abductions of peacekeepers. Croatia and Japan have also withdrawn in recent months.

The presidential elections in Iran on Friday will bring about no significant change in Tehran's policies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Warsaw.

"These so-called elections taking place in Iran, well unfortunately, they will change nothing of significance," Netanyahu said Wednesday, adding the Tehran "regime will continue to be led by one man, one ruler (who) will continue Iran's quest for nuclear weapons."

At least 60 Shiite villagers died in clashes with rebels in eastern Syria while twin suicide bombings hit Damascus as the West moved to support the opposition following battlefield losses against pro-regime forces.

Despite Tuesday's attacks, Bashar Assad's regime, dominated by his Alawite sect of Shiite Islam, appears to have gained the upper hand against mainly Sunni Muslim rebels, buoyed by military support from its allies, Hizubllah and Iran.

An attempt to kill a senior Libyan army officer in the eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday left him lightly wounded, the army's general staff said.

It said on its Facebook page that Colonel Abdullah al-Shaafi, spokesman for the Joint Operations Room in Benghazi, had been the target of an attempted assassination.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced Wednesday to recall an official statement on the peace process which appeared to admit Israel's settlement building was unhelpful in reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

The reference was made in a joint Israeli-Polish declaration which was to have been read out following a meeting in Warsaw between Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk later the same day.

The first pictures to emerge of Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika since he was hospitalized in France in April after a mini-stroke were published by the national APS news agency on Wednesday.

Wearing a dressing gown, he was pictured on Tuesday receiving Algeria's Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal and army chief Ahmed Gaid Salah in the Paris hospital where he is convalescing.

Iran is bankrupt and the regime is mulling drastic measures to keep the economy afloat, an official from an opposition movement said Wednesday, citing what he claimed were leaked documents.

"I have decided to publish these documents because they touch the lives of all Iranians, bear witness to the catastrophic situation in the country as well as the post-election plot prepared by the regime," Amir Hossein Jahanshahi, the founder of the Green Wave opposition group, told reporters in Paris.

Jordan's parliament has approved an agreement with Britain on the extradition of suspects wanted by Amman, including radical cleric Abu Qatada, an MP said Wednesday.

"Parliament on Tuesday approved a treaty with Britain to help Jordan extradite suspects from Britain," Khalil Attieh, the deputy house speaker, told Agence France Presse. "The agreement does not specifically mention Abu Qatada but it includes him and others."