Foreign ministers of the regional "contact group" on Syria agreed at talks in Cairo to hold more consultations in New York later this month, the official MENA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The top diplomats of Egypt, Turkey and Iran met in Cairo to discuss developments in conflict-stricken Syria, but Saudi Arabia, which is also a member of the group, was notably absent from the meeting.

Iran is proposing it, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey dispatch observers to its ally Syria in an effort to quell the violence there, state media reported on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi put forward the suggestion at a regional "contact group" meeting held in Cairo on Monday, the official news agency IRNA and broadcaster IRIB said.

The Imam of Sidon's Bilal bin Rabah mosque Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir criticized on Tuesday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's call for protests to denounce the anti-Islam film, considering that he has “hidden intentions” behind it.

“The Innocence of Muslims film insulted the Sunnis and Shiites,” al-Asir said in an interview with al-Joumhouria.

The Syrian army has tested a chemical weapons delivery system, firing shells at a research center in its northwestern desert region, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday citing "witnesses".

"Five or six empty shells devised for delivering chemical agents were fired by tanks and aircraft, at a site called Diraiham in the desert near the village of Khanasir," east of the city of Aleppo, the periodical reported.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Tuesday that the coordination between Lebanese and Turkish authorities to set free Lebanese men held hostage in Syria was ongoing.

In remarks to al-Liwaa newspaper, Charbel confirmed the cooperation between the Lebanese and Turkish governments, while denying any new development on the case.

Syrian forces said they had secured a flashpoint district of Aleppo city on Monday after a week of fighting, although an Agence France Presse correspondent said some parts were still unsafe for residents to return.

The district of "Midan is under the control of the army," a military source told AFP, in a report backed up by the correspondent on the ground.

President Michel Suleiman tasked on Monday Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn to investigate the Syrian bombardment of Kherbet Daoud, calling on the security forces to act firm with the kidnappings in Lebanon.

Media reports said that Suleiman tasked Ghosn and the concerned officials with raising information regarding the incident that occurred on Monday on the outskirts of the eastern town of Arsal.

Iran's Foreign Ministry on Monday denied the Islamic republic had any Revolutionary Guards in Syria, affirming that media reports quoting the head of the Guards saying that had been published out of context.

"The comments citing General (Mohammed Ali) Jaafari on the presence of Guards in Syria were selective and incorrect... and they are not in any way valid," ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television.

Greece must "fortify" itself against illegal immigration, fearing a new wave from conflict-torn Syria, the public order minister said on Monday as officials reported pressure on maritime borders.

"Measures were discussed... to fortify the Aegean Sea," Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras that also included the ministers of defense and shipping.

Serious human rights violations have soared dramatically in Syria, a top U.N. investigator said Monday, calling for "appropriate action" against perpetrators of atrocities in the war-torn country.

"Gross violations of human rights have grown in number, in pace and in scale," Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told diplomats gathered in Geneva, as more violence shook Damascus and Syria's second city Aleppo.