The former chief of the main opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun visited Beirut during the past two days “on a secret visit”, revealed al-Jadeed television on Thursday.

It said that he held talks with a number of Lebanese officials away from the media spotlight.

Turkey is sending missile batteries and army vehicles to the border with Syria as a "security corridor,” almost a week after the Syrian downing of a Turkish military jet, media reports said Thursday.

There was no official confirmation of the reported military moves.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey has no intention of attacking Syria over its recent downing of a fighter jet.

"As Turkey, the Turkish nation, we have no intention of attacking" Syria, Erdogan said during a military ceremony in Ankara.

Four Turkish soldiers were killed Wednesday in a clash with Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in the country's southeast, a local security source said.

Three soldiers died in an early-morning ambush by members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Eruh town in Siirt province, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Iraqi border.

Turkey will sign Tuesday a deal with neighboring Azerbaijan on building the $7 billion Trans-Anatolian natural gas pipeline (TANAP) to carry Azeri gas to European markets, its prime minister said.

This project is about transferring the natural gas extracted from the second phase of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field to Europe, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a parliamentary address.

Cyprus, which on July 1 will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union, is ready with its European partners to evacuate third party nationals from Syria, the foreign minister said.

"We are only 100 kilometer from the shores of Syria and Lebanon. Anything that goes wrong there will affect us," Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said in an interview with Agence France Presse.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said on Wednesday that “people are fed up with divisions” and reiterated support for Lebanese from all sects and parties.

“People are fed up with divisions and we are always with all Lebanese from all sects, moods, movements and parties,” al-Rahi said at Rafik Hariri International Airport ahead of travelling to Turkey on a pastoral trip.

Russia on Tuesday said its regional ally Syria's downing of a Turkish jet should not be viewed as a provocation and urged all nations to tone down their rhetoric over the incident.

"We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilizing the situation," the foreign ministry said in its first comment on Friday's Phantom 4 jet downing.

NATO condemned Syria's downing of a Turkish jet as "unacceptable" and expressed "strong support and solidarity" with Turkey after emergency consultations Tuesday.

"We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms," said NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "Allies have expressed their strong support and solidarity with Turkey... We will remain seized."

Turkey branded its former ally Syria "a clear and imminent threat," on Tuesday as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vented his fury over the downing of a Turkish fighter jet.

In his most outspoken criticism of the Damascus regime, Erdogan vowed to retaliate against the "heinous act" and promised a change of military attitude to any Syrian officer approaching the common border.