The Mustaqbal Movement praised on Friday the Syrian National Council’s open letter to the Lebanese people, especially regarding its proposal to review Lebanese-Syrian agreements and demarcate the border between the two countries.

It said in a statement: “The council’s brave step will pave the way for a new chapter of ties between Lebanon and Syria.”

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged the U.N. Security Council on Friday to speak with one voice on Syria, and called on Damascus to listen to the aspirations of its people.

"I hope that the Security Council will be able to act," said Ban, referring to a meeting later Friday at the United Nations on the crisis in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's regime is cracking down on a popular uprising.

Saudi Arabia will recognize the Syrian National Council as the "official representative" of the Syrian people, a senior member of the opposition group said in remarks published on Friday.

"Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told an SNC delegation he met in Cairo last week the kingdom will recognize the Council as the official representative of the Syrian people," SNC executive council member Ahmad Ramadan told Kuwait's al-Rai newspaper.

Eleven Iranian pilgrims have been kidnapped in unrest-swept Syria, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, calling on Damascus to help secure their release.

"According to our information, 11 Iranian pilgrims travelling by road to Damascus were kidnapped by an unknown group," said ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Thursday condemned the killing of a Syrian Red Crescent chief and demanded the Damascus government investigate the crime.

Ban is "deeply concerned" at the killing of Abdelrazak Jbeiro, the Syrian Red Crescent secretary general, who was ambushed Wednesday while driving in the restive northwest province of Idlib, said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Israel's former army chief Gabi Ashkenazi said Thursday that no Sunni-led government will ever go as far with Iran and Hizbullah as Syrian President Bashar Assad did.

During the conference, which was organized by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv University, the former army chief said that “there were vast and untrue estimates stating that the primary country equipping Hizbullah with weapons is Iran, while the truth was that Syria is equipping Hizbullah.”

A Syrian opposition figure on Thursday called on the Arab League to hold talks with Russia before turning to the United Nations for intervention in the Syria crisis.

"We hope to see Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi head to Moscow before New York," said Haitham Mannaa of the Syrian National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, the second largest coalition after the Syrian National Council.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani are to head to New York on Saturday to seek support for an Arab plan on Syria, Arabi said.

The two will "hold a meeting with the U.N. Security Council on Monday to seek ratification of the Arab League decision on Syria," for President Bashar Assad to hand power to his deputy, Arabi said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Thursday the importance of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that the Arab League deal is the only solution available, reported the Russian news agency Novosti.

“I discussed importance of a political solution according to the Arab League plan”, Jumblat said to LBC television later Thursday night, adding that “ I know that we have entered into violence and counter violence in Syria, But Russia has to condemn the Syrian regime for the violence because it was the initiator.”

President Michel Suleiman voiced on Thursday his optimism with Lebanon’s future, saying that the economy will improve when oil and gas excavation begins.

He said before his visitors: “The regional developments that have been taking place for about a year should motivate us to fortify Lebanon’s democratic system.”