The kidnappers of Lebanese pilgrims in Syria have promised to release two of their captives as a goodwill gesture ten days after Hussein Ali Omar was set free, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.

A delegation of the Committee of Muslim Scholars that is in Turkey mediating the release of the pilgrims held talks with several Free Syrian Army officials who are based in Turkey, the newspaper said.

A Turkish businessman kidnapped by al-Meqdad clan last month warned that his situation was “tragic” and appealed to his government to exert stronger efforts to release a Lebanese man abducted in Damascus so that he could go free.

In a short interview with An Nahar daily’s reporter from the place of his captivity, a frail-looking Tekin Tufan said: “I am tired and confused and trying to find out what’s happening around me.”

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul on Saturday left hospital where he was being treated over the past nine days for an ear infection, and will be ready to resume work next week, Anatolia news agency reported.

The president has left the hospital in full health after he was hospitalized late on August 23 for inner ear problems, the agency reported, quoting his doctors.

More than 100 Turkish journalists on Friday staged a protest to demand the release of two Turkish reporters reportedly being held by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Gathering in front of the Syrian embassy in Ankara, protestors unfurled banners reading "Syria, give our colleagues back," "Don't kill journalists," and "Journalist is not the target."

A Syrian deputy foreign minister slammed Turkey on Friday for training and facilitating the passage of "terrorists," according to a television interview given during a summit of non-aligned states in Iran.

Turkey had a particularly "destructive role" in the conflict, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad told Iran's Arabic-language Al-Alam television.

Turkey will keep up its diplomatic efforts to protect refugees within the Syrian territory, despite the lack of an agreement at the U.N. Security Council, a Turkish diplomat told Agence France Presse Friday.

"We will continue to appeal to the international community to act," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The head of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, Sheikh Hassan Qaterji, said Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi travelled to Turkey to follow up the case of the 10 Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria.

Qaterji told An Nahar daily on Friday that al-Rafehi headed to Ankara based on Interior Minister Marwan Charbel’s request.

Thirteen people suspected of having links to al-Qaida were arrested in northwest Turkey following the discovery of explosives, the local governor said Thursday.

Police seized 90 kilograms (198 pounds) of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to make bombs, in a house raid in Karamursel, Kocaeli province, Governor Ercan Topaca was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel denied on Thursday that a security delegation will travel to Ankara to close the deal on the exchange of abductees.

“I will head to Turkey when there is serious and positive information on the issue,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Turkey said Wednesday it will allow Turkish lawmakers to visit a refugee camp set up for Syrian army defectors in a bid to quash rumors that the camp morphed into an underground rebel training base.

"We are working on allowing access into all (refugee settlements), including Apaydin camp, for members of a relevant parliamentary commission," Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in televised remarks.