U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council on Wednesday to overcome its paralysis and take meaningful action on Syria, while he slammed North Korea for its "reckless" nuclear test.

"It is essential for the Security Council to overcome the deadlock and find the unity that will make meaningful action possible," in Syria, Ban said in a speech at the Organization of American States in Washington.

Israeli troops on Wednesday opened fire at a man walking from Syrian-held territory towards the Israeli-annexed zone of the Golan Heights, an army spokeswoman said.

"Soldiers identified a suspect approaching the border fence in the southern Golan Heights," she told Agence France Presse.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and opposition National Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib will make separate visits to Moscow for talks in the coming weeks, a top Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the RIA Novosti news agency that Muallem would visit Russia by the end of February while Khatib would come in the next two or three weeks.

Syrian regime forces on Wednesday stormed a house in the Bekaa border area of Masharii al-Qaa and tried to kidnap Lebanese nationals Omar Youssef Krumbi and Ali Ahmed Zaarour, but one of them managed to escape, MTV reported.

The TV network said the security sources declined to give further information but noted that the relevant authorities are conducting contacts in a bid to identify the circumstances of the abduction.

Jihadist group Ahrar al-Sham is emerging from the shadows of the larger rebel outfit al-Nusra Front as a key player in northern Syria, playing up its nationalist roots and more moderate form of Islam.

Fighters from the group, whose name means in Arabic the "Free Men of Syria", are mainly to be found on the battlefields in the northern provinces of Idlib, Aleppo and central Hama alongside some 30 other jihadist organizations.

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Youhanna X al-Yazigi arrived Wednesday at the Our Lady of Balamand Monastery, on the first visit to Lebanon after his enthronement as the new Greek Orthodox leader.

The patriarch was welcomed by official and popular delegations.

The Syrian national news agency said on Wednesday that the Bekaa town of Arsal has become a “refuge and a logistic base for the terrorists of the Free Syrian Army”.

“Many media reports have proved that Arsal is a producer of the terrorism targeting the Syrian people on a daily basis,” SANA said, adding that the Lebanese cabinet's “cover up is a crime against both countries”.

Former foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Wednesday he has a neutral stance on Syria's 23-month conflict, as he broke his silence for the first time since leaving the country.

"I left Syria because the polarization in the country has reached a deadly and destructive stage... I left a battlefield, not a normal country, and I apologize to those who trusted my credibility and for leaving without prior notice," he said.

A Syrian government official warned Wednesday of rampant trafficking in antiquities from his country and appealed for U.N. help in halting the illicit trade that has flourished during the nearly 23-month-long civil war.

Syria's turmoil has increasingly threatened the country's rich archaeological heritage but the issue of smuggling artifacts has taken a back seat to more dramatic images as some of the most significant sites got caught in the crossfire between regime forces and rebels.

Red roses, tulips, heart-shaped toys and teddy bears cram the stands of Rawda Flowers in an upscale district of Damascus, but with war raging few people have indulged in gifts for Valentine's Day.

"My business is almost dead. Most of my old clients, who once came to buy bouquets for thousands of Syrian pounds, have fled the country because they fear kidnapping," the shop owner told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.