Syrian security forces on Thursday killed 62 people across the country, monitors said, as the army sent further troop reinforcements to the northwestern province of Idlib, where activists said they fear an assault similar to the one that devastated the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs.

Fifty-two people were killed in the central province of Homs, including 44 who were summarily executed, two in Idlib province, two in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, three in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, one in the central province of Hama, one in the southern province of Daraa and one in the northern province of Aleppo, the LCC reported.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr on Thursday warned of regional consequences should the crisis in Syria "explode", during talks with U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan, his spokesman said.

Amr said that an "explosion" of the situation in Syria "would not only have internal consequences but will spread to the whole region," Amr Roshdy told reporters.

Two explosions on Thursday struck security posts in the northern Syrian town of Aazaz, site of fierce clashes between government and rebel troops, a monitoring group said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that one blast targeted an intelligence office and the second a police station.

United Nations and Arab League special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan on Thursday urged the Syrian opposition to cooperate to resolve the conflict that has left thousands dead in the past year.

Former U.N. chief Annan, speaking to reporters in Cairo, urged "the Syrian opposition to come together to work with us to find a solution that will respect the aspirations of the Syrian people."

Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun on Thursday welcomed the defection of the deputy oil minister and told Agence France Presse he expects more government officials and politicians to follow suit.

"I hail the deputy (oil) minister who defected and I call on all government members and public servants ... to abandon this regime and join the ranks of the revolution for freedom and dignity," said Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati refuted reports that he is seeking to reject the leasing of power-generating vessels to end the country’s lingering electricity crisis, local newspapers reported on Thursday.

Miqati informed ministers during a cabinet session held at the Grand Serail on Wednesday that the decision hasn’t been made yet, saying that it all depends on the committee tasked with finding a solution to Lebanon's electricity sector, according to An Nahar newspaper.

The cabinet “reminded” foreign diplomats on Wednesday to respect the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations after Hizbullah ministers Mohammed Fneish and Hussein al-Hajj Hassan accused U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly of interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs.

Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is loyal to Speaker Nabih Berri, also urged the government to clarify its stance that Lebanon’s sovereignty should be respected.

The Lebanese security services released seven Syrians, who were allegedly accused of the possession of arms, of using them in Lebanese territories and injuring a Lebanese soldier, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Thursday.

According to security sources, the armed men were not handed to the General Security Department so that they could be handed over to the Syrian authorities for crossing illegally into Lebanon.

Syria's deputy oil minister resigned on Thursday, becoming the most senior official to join the rebel ranks, as Washington revealed it is mulling non-lethal aid to the insurgency.

Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation in a video posted by activists on YouTube, saying he was joining the revolt.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday the United States is looking at delivering radios or other non-lethal aid to Syria's rebel forces but warned of the risks of military action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime without international consensus or a unified opposition.

While outraged at the killing of civilians in Syria, the U.S. government is opposed to taking "unilateral" military action and favors pursuing diplomacy to force Assad to step down, Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee.