Syrian security forces on Tuesday killed at least 27 civilians, including two children, and five army deserters across the country, according to activists, as the rebel army said the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad no longer controls half of the country's territory.

Fourteen people were killed in the flashpoint northwestern province of Idlib, eleven in the central protest hub of Homs, four in the capital Damascus and its suburbs, and three in the southern province of Daraa, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.

Hundreds of angry Kuwaiti tribesmen burned down the tent of a controversial candidate standing in general elections this week after he made comments deemed offensive to their clan, witnesses said Tuesday.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred late Monday, following a campaign rally by the candidate, Mohammed al-Juwaihel, who is competing in Thursday's legislative poll.

Overnight air raids struck an al-Qaida meeting and control post in southern Yemen, killing around 15 people including a long-hunted regional militant leader, tribal chiefs said on Tuesday.

The four night-time raids were "carried out by U.S. planes," according to a local military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. They hit targets in the Loder and al-Wadih areas of Abyan province, a tribal chief said.

Thirty-five Ethiopian Christians, 29 of them women, face deportation from Saudi Arabia for "illicit mingling" after police raided a private prayer gathering, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

The New York-based watchdog said the women were subjected to "unwarranted strip search," while the men were beaten and insulted as "unbelievers".

Swedish immigration authorities said Monday they were temporarily halting all deportations to Syria due to growing violence as President Bashar al-Assad's regime continues its deadly crackdown.

"The Swedish Migration Board has now temporarily stopped all deportations ... to Syria. The reason is the dramatically worsened security situation in the country," the agency said in a statement.

Russia will not back a new draft resolution on Syria, its deputy foreign minister said Monday ahead of the U.N. Security Council's debate over the latest Western-backed proposal.

"The current Western draft has not gone too far from the October version, and, certainly, cannot be supported by us," Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency in an interview.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council on Monday rejected the resignation of its number two, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, who had stepped down after protests against him, a member of the council told Agence France Presse.

"The NTC in its meeting examined the resignation of its deputy and rejected it," Intisar al-Akili said of the decision which was taken during an NTC meeting in Tripoli.

The opposition Syrian National Council warned on Monday of a possible "massacre" of hundreds of young men rounded up by security forces in a town near Damascus.

It voiced "fears over a possible liquidation of hundreds of young men that Syrian security services have gathered in a public square in Rankous," 40 kilometers north of the capital, in a statement received by Agence France Presse.

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, arrived in Qatar on Monday, beginning a regional tour that is also expected to take in Kuwait, Bahrain and Iran.

The official Qatari News Agency said Haniya's visit to the Gulf emirate will "last several days," while diplomats said he will leave Doha on Saturday, after leading the main weekly Muslim prayers at noon on Friday.

Egypt's ruling military on Monday laid out the rules governing the country's first presidential elections since a popular uprising ousted veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.

Only Egyptian nationals born to Egyptian parents and who do not hold dual citizenship can qualify for candidacy, according to the new election law issued by military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.