Former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed held talks on Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad, reported the National News Agency.

The two-hour talks held in Syria focused on general developments, it added.

Thousands took to the streets in predominantly Shiite southern Iraq on Tuesday in a show of support for the Shiite premier after more than two weeks of protests in the mainly Sunni Arab north and west.

The loyalist rallies are the latest twist in a long-running standoff within Iraq's unity government between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his mainly Sunni Arab critics who accuse him of abusing counter-terror legislation to persecute the minority community.

Saudi authorities on Tuesday beheaded a Syrian convicted of trafficking a large amount of narcotic pills, the interior ministry said, in the first execution in the kingdom this year.

Mohammed Darwish was arrested "as he was trafficking a large amount of narcotic pills into the kingdom," the ministry said in a statement carried by official news agency SPA.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said Monday that President Bashar Assad's speech setting out his terms for peace would not help end "the terrible suffering" of the Syrian people.

"The secretary general was disappointed that the speech by President Bashar Assad on January 6 does not contribute to a solution that could end the terrible suffering of the Syrian people," said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's first speech since June showed he remains confident enough in his military strength after 21 months of conflict to thumb his nose at demands for his exit, analysts say.

Assad broke his silence after the regime weathered a storm of devastating events over the summer and autumn, said Thomas Pierret, Syria specialist and professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Syria's tolerated opposition on Monday rejected an offer to enter into talks with the government of President Bashar Assad to find a solution to end the 21-month conflict.

The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB) issued its verdict even as Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi said his cabinet would meet soon to draw up a mechanism for the peace roadmap announced on Sunday by Assad.

Speaker Nabih Berri congratulated his American counterpart John Boehner on his election as speaker, hoping that he will support Lebanon, its stability and security, as well as the unity of the countries of the region.

He warned in his congratulatory cable: “Division of any country in the region will lead to sectarian and ethnic strife.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped on Monday that the Lebanese factions would restore contacts between each other instead of awaiting the outcome of the Syrian crisis.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “Those seeking to make their political plans based on the belief that the Syrian crisis will end soon are mistaken.”

The Netherlands' Patriot missile batteries on Monday began their journey to fellow NATO member Turkey where they are to defend civilians near the border from a possible Syrian attack.

Around 160 vehicles carrying the missiles and equipment for 300 Dutch support troops left the Bestkazerne military base in Vredepeel in the southeastern Netherlands on Monday morning, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

Pope Benedict XVI called Monday for a ceasefire and "constructive dialogue" in Syria, warning that there will be no victors should the violent conflict drag on further.

"I think first and foremost of Syria, torn apart by endless slaughter and the scene of dreadful suffering among its civilian population," 85-year-old Benedict told ambassadors to the Holy See gathered at the Vatican.