The oil-rich Gulf States have called for an emergency Arab foreign ministers' meeting on the mounting bloodshed in Syria as Damascus shows no let-up in its deadly crackdown on protests.

In a statement received by Agence France Presse late Thursday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said the meeting should address "the situation in Syria, which has deteriorated sharply, particularly in its humanitarian dimensions, and steps that could help end the bloodshed and halt the machine of violence."

Britain's Foreign Office has again summoned the Syrian ambassador to London over the alleged intimidation of exiled activists, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Thursday, urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

It is the third time this year that Syrian ambassador Sami Khiyami has been summoned by the British government amid unrest in the Arab nation, while it also rescinded his invitation to Prince William's wedding in April.

Syrian troops and armed dissidents clashed in two towns on Thursday, with at least 14 people killed, as the EU announced sanctions on a key Syrian bank in protest at its deadly crackdown on dissent.

In the first clash reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights five people were killed in Banash town in Idlib province in the northwest.

The seven-month-old revolt in neighboring Syria has given hope to Lebanese families trying to find what happened to thousands of loved ones who disappeared during their country's civil war and are believed dead or held in Syrian jails.

"For the first time in many, many years, it's a win-win situation for us -- for all the families of the victims," said Ghazi Aad, head of SOLIDE, a group that for years has been lobbying for Lebanese political prisoners in Syrian jails.

The U.S. embassy in Damascus has hit back at apparent glee in the Syrian state media over the Occupy Wall Street movement sweeping the United States, posting a Facebook lesson on democracy.

On its official Facebook page, the embassy took a thinly veiled jibe at the regime of Bashar Assad, saying that, while there is dissatisfaction in America over the economy, that did not translate into police shooting "thousands of protesters" or demonstrators being tortured.

A Syrian-born U.S. citizen has been charged with spying on anti-Assad protesters and providing recordings to the regime's intelligence agents in a bid to silence the opposition, U.S. officials said Wednesday, but the Syrian embassy in Washington denied such allegations.

A federal grand jury charged Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, on October 5 in a six-count indictment for his efforts against activists in the United States and Syria opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. He was arrested Tuesday.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel expressed his concern over the repeated Syrian violations of the Lebanese territories which have become disturbing on the national, security and sovereign levels.

In an interview with Radio "Voice of Lebanon" (100.3-100.5), Gemayel stressed that the government and the security forces should tell the people who " have a right to know what is going on", about these violations.

A Syrian army unit entered Lebanon on Wednesday and headed towards the Wadi Anjar region in the Bekaa where it set up base past the sand barrier which the Lebanese army had set up years ago to mark the borders, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

The coordination and cooperation office between the two armies began their contacts to tackle the matter, with the army command demanding that the Syrian troops withdraw from Lebanon.

Prominent Syrian dissident Walid al-Bunni, arrested in August, was freed on bail on Wednesday, his lawyer said.

"The Damascus court of appeals on Wednesday freed opposition figure Walid al-Bunni in exchange for a bail of 1,150 Syrian pounds ($23). He will be tried later for inciting (anti-regime) demonstrations and sectarianism," said Michel Shammas.

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the Syrian army’s recent incursions into Lebanese territory, demanding that the parliamentary defense council convene with the defense minister and army command to tackle the affair.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Syria’s violations should be brought up before all Arab and international forums.”