Syria accepted Wednesday an Arab League plan to end nearly eight months of bloodshed in the revolt-hit country, as the Arab organization urged Damascus to “seriously” implement the approved roadmap.

The agreement announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo came amid huge pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, even from traditional allies such as China, to end weeks of prevarication and sign up to the deal drawn up by the pan-Arab bloc.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday demanded an immediate end to the Syrian government's crackdown on civilian protesters that has killed more than 3,000 people since mid-March, according to U.N. figures.

"Killing civilians must stop immediately in Syria," Ban told a news conference in Tripoli on his first visit to Libya since the eruption in February of the uprising which toppled veteran tyrant Moammar Gadhafi.

Egypt's ruling generals have announced the pardon of 334 civilians who were sentenced in military tribunals since the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Wednesday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the move was to support "the continued communication with the great Egyptian people and the youth of the revolution."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Israel on Wednesday to backtrack on its decision to accelerate building of new settlements in response to Palestinian accession to UNESCO.

"I am deeply concerned by the latest Israeli decisions to expedite settlement activities in response to Palestinian accession to UNESCO," Ashton said in a statement.

France on Wednesday condemned Israel's decision to step up settlement building on occupied land and to withhold tax funds from the Palestinians to punish them for joining U.N. cultural body UNESCO.

"France condemns the decision to accelerate the construction of several thousand homes in settlements in east Jerusalem and surroundings," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told journalists.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon arrived Wednesday in Libya for a surprise visit, an airport official told Agence France Presse, his first since the uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

Earlier U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban would spend one day in Tripoli to meet officials in the National Transitional Council who ousted Gadhafi and representatives of civic group.

Turkey has signaled possible support for a buffer zone to protect Syrian civilians if the Assad regime continues its deadly crackdown on protesters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the Financial Times on Tuesday that Ankara was preparing targeted sanctions against Damascus and left the door open for more drastic steps at a later date, such as a buffer zone or a no fly-zone on Syrian territory.

Iran is on alert and will "punish" any Israeli strike against it, its armed forces chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, warned Wednesday amid Israeli media speculation of plans for an attack.

"We consider any threat -- even those with low probability and distant -- as a definite threat. We are on full alert," he said, quoted by Fars news agency.

Syria's largest opposition group on Wednesday urged the Arab League to freeze the country's membership and to recognize it as the representative of the "revolution.”

In a statement, the Syrian National Council urged "the Arab League to freeze Syria's membership, ensure the protection of civilians and recognize the SNC as the representative of the Syrian revolution."

Israel on Wednesday successfully tested a rocket-propulsion system from a military base in the center of the country, a defense ministry official said.

"This test firing of the rocket-propulsion system had been planned by the defense establishment a long time ago and was carried out as scheduled," the official told Agence France Presse.