Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday world powers should draw lessons from their mistakes and stop interfering in crisis-hit nations of North Africa and the Middle East.

Putin did not address the raging conflict in Syria directly and appeared to be referring to the overall threat of the use of force that has also been applied by Israel and the United States to Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran's Press TV and al-Alam network bureaus chief in Syria, Lebanese national Hussein Mortada, was wounded on Wednesday in a sniper attack that left his colleague dead as they reported from the site of twin bomb blasts near Syrian army headquarters.

Both channels reported that Mortada was shot in the back by sniper fire in the Syrian capital Damascus.

The Military Tribunal released from custody a Major, who was accused of arms trafficking, media reports said on Wednesday.

According to LBCI, Major Wissam Abdul Khaliq was released after being charged with allegedly smuggling arms to neighboring country Syria.

Pro-government militiamen executed at least 16 civilians in their homes in Damascus before dawn on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Militiamen burst into their homes in the Barzeh neighborhood at 5 a.m. (02:00 GMT) and shot them dead," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence France Presse.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's pointman for Syria, Fred Hof, is stepping down at a crucial time as world powers seek to end the conflict in the Arab nation.

"I can confirm that he is going to be retiring," a senior State Department official said late Tuesday.

Two suicide bombs struck the heavily guarded Syrian army headquarters in the heart of Damascus on Wednesday, killing four guards and sparking a gunbattle between troops and rebels, state media said.

A rebel officer and a rights group said the audacious attack which also left 14 people wounded was an inside job, while an Islamist rebel group said five of its fighters including a suicide bomber died in carrying out the assault.

A Lebanese pilgrim kidnapped in Syria in May returned to Beirut from Turkey to a hero's welcome on Wednesday night, a day after his release by his abductors.

Awad Ibrahim arrived at Rafik Hariri international airport aboard a Turkish Airlines flight around 8:30 pm accompanied by two General Security and Internal Security Forces officers.

French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday called for U.N. protection for "liberated zones" under opposition control in Syria.

Hollande made the call in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in which he said the Syrian conflict, Iran's nuclear drive and the terrorist threat in Mali and the Sahel region were major emergencies facing the world.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday the spread of kidnappings in Lebanon at the hands of armed groups, saying that such incidents are aimed at undermining the authority of the state.

The bloc also addressed after its weekly meeting the shooting against Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's convoy, demanding an investigation in the matter.

Germany urged the world community meeting at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday to stand together to find a way to end the war in Syria and stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Iran should face tougher economic sanctions targeting its financial, trade, transport and energy sectors to force it to engage in serious negotiations on its alleged weapons program.