Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Wednesday that Lebanon abides by international law and is committed to its cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in order to bolster security and stability.

He said after holding talks with UNIFIL Commander Major General Alberto Asarta: “The recent attack against the French unit in UNIFIL is aimed at harming Lebanese-French ties.”

Iran's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill for a free trade agreement with Syria in a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad's regime beset by protests and international pressure.

The bill provides for free trade between Iran and Syria within the next five years, according to Iranian state television.

More than 5,000 people are now believed to have been killed in the Syrian government's crackdown on protests, U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay told the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

More than 14,000 people are estimated to have been detained and 12,400 have fled into neighboring countries, Pillay told a closed session of the 15-nation council, according to diplomats.

Syria on Monday denied involvement in a bombing that wounded five French U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, a day after France said Damascus was probably behind the attack.

"Syria has no link whatsoever with this act which we condemn," foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said in a statement that also criticized French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for pointing a finger at Damascus.

A Yemeni protester was wounded Monday when police dispersed hundreds of demonstrators demanding a secession of southern regions in the capital of former South Yemen, activists said.

Security forces at dawn stormed a camp of tents that southern separatists erected in al-Oroud Square in Aden after they met U.N. envoy Jamal Benomar, activists said.

Heavy fighting between the Sudanese army and southern-aligned rebels in the embattled state of South Kordofan has killed at least 19 government troops, a rebel spokesman said on Monday.

"There was heavy fighting on Saturday in Warni, in the far east of Talodi locality. The SPLA repelled an attack by the army. They left 19 bodies on the ground," Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told Agence France Presse.

Reconciliation is crucial in countries emerging from political turmoil, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday at the opening of a U.N. Alliance of Civilizations forum.

The fourth annual forum, hosted this year by Qatar, includes delegates from several states touched by the Arab Spring revolts.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised on Sunday Lebanon’s condemnation of Friday’s attack against the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, confirmed that he will visit Lebanon in January.

He told Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour that he will visit the country on January 13 and 14.

Activists called a general strike on Sunday to step up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime as fears grew of an "invasion" of the besieged protest hub of Homs.

In a civil disobedience campaign, anti-regime protesters were organizing sit-ins, the closure of shops and universities, and the strike.

The Palestinian premier on Saturday slammed U.S. presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for belittling the Palestinians as an "invented" people and demanded an apology.

Gingrich, leading in some national polls for the Republican Party nomination, made the comments in a Friday interview to be aired with the Jewish Channel satellite television.