A pledge of allegiance by Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group battling Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, to al-Qaida could backfire and undermine its hard-won support on the ground, analysts say.

The rebel group, which has spearheaded the violent uprising against Assad's forces, made the announcement in an audio message in which its leader said it was committed to al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.

A quantity of military communication devices were seized on Wednesday at the Port of Beirut, media reports said.

“Customs authorities at the Port of Beirut seized a container containing advanced communication devices destined for the armed groups in Syria,” al-Manar television reported, without elaborating.

The core group of the "Friends of Syria" will meet next week in Istanbul and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will attend, a senior U.S. State Department official said Wednesday.

"The secretary will be attending the next core group meeting in Istanbul on Saturday the 20th," the official said, asking not to be identified.

An Arab Israeli was indicted on Wednesday for contact with an enemy agent after he went to Syria and joined rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad, security officials said.

Hikmat Massarwa, from Taibe village in Galilee, was also charged at Lod District Court with undergoing military training and for travelling overseas illegally, the Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

The March 14 General Secretariat hoped on Wednesday that Premier-designate Tammam Salam would succeed in a forming a government of “national reconciliation.”

It demanded that all parties “cooperate honestly with him and refrain from setting obstacles that only serve factional interests at the expense of national ones.”

The foreign ministry has sent a letter to the Syrian embassy in Beirut upon the request of President Michel Suleiman, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

While NNA did not specify the nature of the letter sent on Monday, media reports said it included the recent request made by Suleiman to hand the ministry copies of security reports on the latest Syrian airstrikes on Lebanese territories.

The head of Syria's jihadist al-Nusra Front on Wednesday pledged allegiance to al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in an audio message, but distanced his group from claims it had merged with al-Qaida in Iraq.

"The sons of al-Nusra Front pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri," Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said in the recording.

President Michel Suleiman called on Turkey to exert more pressure to release the abducted Lebanese in the Syrian town of Aazaa.

Suleiman stressed during his meeting on Wednesday with the Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim at the Presidential Palace in Baabda that such pressure helps enhance relations between Lebanon and Turkey.

Jordan opened a second camp for Syrian refugees on Wednesday after the United Nations said the number seeking shelter in the kingdom is expected to triple by the end of the year.

A first group of 106 refugees, who were among 1,306 who crossed the border during the night, were moved to the new Mrigeb al-Fuhud camp, government spokesman for Syrian refugee affairs, Anmar Hmud, told Agence France Presse.

The United States is mulling ways to step up support for the Syrian opposition, a top U.S. official said Wednesday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and G8 ministers were to meet rebel leaders.

"The United States every single day thinks about what more we can do to help bring this horrible situation to an end," the senior U.S. administration official said, asking not to be identified.