Syrian refugees wait in line for food at a Turkish refugee camp -- not crowding around an aid truck but queuing at an ordinary supermarket to pay for goods using electronic debit cards.

Under the experimental project launched by the U.N. World Food Program and the Turkish Red Crescent, thousands of refugees who have fled the conflict raging in their homeland now receive cards charged with aid credits rather than boxes of basic supplies.

The world must act to stop President Bashar Assad's regime unleashing a chemical weapon "disaster", opposition Syrian National Council chief George Sabra said on Friday, as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said any use of chemical arms would be an "outrageous crime."

"We ask the countries of the world to act before disaster hits not after," Sabra said.

European Union foreign ministers will exchange views Monday with the leader of the newly-formed Syrian opposition coalition, EU officials said, as some EU member states pressed for the rebels to be armed.

They said ministers will meet Ahmed Moaz Al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, to discuss latest developments in a bloody conflict which has now cost some 42,000 lives.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon appealed Friday for more aid to help hundreds of thousands who have fled the Syrian conflict, as he visited a refugee camp in neighboring Jordan.

"I call on the international community and particularly the countries of the region to provide on (an) urgent basis humanitarian assistance," he said at the Zaatari camp in Jordan, which hosts more than 250,000 Syrians.

Syria's army sent reinforcements to a rebel town near Damascus as clashes raged south of the capital Friday, hours after talks on the conflict between the U.S., Russia and U.N. ended without a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon was due to visit Syrian refugees in Turkey before meeting in Ankara with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, key backers of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.

The families of Lebanese pilgrims, who were kidnapped in May in Syria, briefly blocked on Friday the road near the Interior Ministry in Beirut's Hamra thoroughfare.

Protesters demanded authorities to swiftly resolve the matter, warning of further endeavors until the 9 remaining men are released.

Syrian activists called online for nationwide protests on Friday to reject any future U.N. deployment of blue helmets in the strife-torn country, as rebels inched closer to the capital amid raging violence.

"No to 'peacekeeping' forces in Syria," was the slogan announced for weekly Friday protests, according to the Syrian Revolution 2011 Facebook page.

Ecuador said Thursday it has not offered Bashar Assad asylum amid speculation the embattled Syrian president was weighing Latin America as a place of refuge.

"Totally denied," Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said on his Twitter account. "No Syrian citizen has requested asylum in Ecuador, much less its current president."

At least 42,000 people have been killed in violence since an uprising broke out against the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad in March last year, a monitoring group said on Thursday.

"At least 29,455 civilians have been killed, as have 1,426 troops who defected to the opposition and 10,551 soldiers," Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Britain will press its European partners next week to amend the arms embargo on Syria to allow them to provide weapons to rebels fighting the regime, Europe minister David Lidington said Thursday.

"Having successfully amended the EU arms embargo (and sanctions package) by setting a three-month renewal period, we will make fresh arguments in support of amending the arms embargo ahead of the March 2013 deadline in a way that offers sufficient flexibility to increase practical support to the Syrian opposition," Lidington said in a written statement to parliament.