Egyptian helicopter gunships killed 20 militants in in the Sinai on Wednesday, state media and the army said, days after 16 soldiers were killed in an attack attributed to Islamist extremists.

The air strikes on Tumah village -- the military's first in Sinai for decades -- were carried out as security forces massed near Rafah on the Gaza border for what they called a decisive confrontation with the militants.

An Iranian woman, jailed by the United States for attempting to export military equipment to Tehran, has been freed and arrived in Oman on Tuesday, the government in Muscat announced.

A foreign ministry spokesman thanked the U.S. government for releasing Shahrazad Mir Gholikhan "on humanitarian grounds and following efforts made by Oman", Oman's state news agency Ona said.

Outgoing U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan will not send a representative to a meeting on the Syria conflict to be hosted by Iran on Thursday, a U.N. spokesman said.

Iran has called a ministerial meeting of states that have taken a "realistic and principled stand" on the Syrian crisis. Iran, a key ally of Syria's President Bashar Assad, has said it expects representatives from 10 countries to attend.

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned in an interview aired Tuesday that President Bashar Assad could make a "worst case scenario" retreat to an Alawite stronghold if he falls from power in Damascus.

The king peered into the mind of the embattled Syrian leader in an interview with CBS News "This Morning" and said that such an outcome to the Syria crisis could splinter the country and cause ethnic strife for decades to come.

Turkey can play a "major role" in freeing 48 Iranian pilgrims abducted in Syria because of its links with the Syrian opposition, Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Ali Akbar Salehi said he was in Turkey to follow the case of the pilgrims abducted over the weekend because "Turkey has links with the opposition in Syria, so we think Turkey can play major role in freeing our pilgrims."

Anti-regime gunmen killed 16 civilians, mostly Alawites and Christians, in an attack Tuesday on a housing compound for power company employees near Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"Armed men stormed the Jandar Residential Compound, firing indiscriminately and killing 16 Syrians, among them six Christians, six Alawites -- including the compound director -- and four Sunnis," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Turkey on Tuesday rejected remarks by a top Iranian defense official that Ankara would be the country next affected by the conflict in Syria and that it was a U.S. stooge.

"We strongly condemn the groundless accusations and extremely inappropriate threats against our country delivered by some Iranian officials, including those by Iranian chief of staff Hassan Firouzabadi," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

An Israeli court on Tuesday backed an Israeli government policy of allowing Christians from the Gaza Strip to pray at Israeli and West Bank holy sites, and denying the enclave's Muslims the same right.

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal lodged by six Gaza Muslims and Israeli non-governmental organization Gisha to challenge a ruling of the Beersheba District Court, which refused to intervene against the policy.

The United States on Tuesday added a wanted Saudi militant alleged to be a top trainer of foreign al-Qaida fighters in camps in Afghanistan to its list of global terrorists.

Azzam Abdullah Zureik al-Maulid al-Subhi, better known as Mansour al-Harbi, is among about 80 Saudi citizens which Saudi Arabia has put on its most wanted list and wants extradited, accusing them of ties to the al-Qaida network.

Syria's rebel forces attacked an oil field in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Tuesday, triggering a deadly firefight with troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Four rebel fighters and six soldiers were killed in a fierce clash that broke out with regime forces following the attack, said the Britain-based monitoring group.