Saudi authorities have dismantled an al-Qaida-linked group of 16 people plotting to overthrow the regime, the Saudi-funded Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported on Wednesday.

The "secret organization" aimed to "gain power with the aid of foreign intelligence services," Asharq Al-Awsat quoted a spokesman for the justice ministry as saying, without specifying the country of origin of the intelligence services in question.

Libyan rebels in the Nafusa Mountains southwest of the capital said on Wednesday that a peace deal was "impossible" as veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi refuses to step down.

"Up to now it is impossible to get a political solution. Gadhafi wants to stay, the rebels don't want," said Colonel Juma Brahim, head of the rebel's operational command for the region.

France on Wednesday slammed as "indecent" Russia and China's "blocking" of a proposed United Nations resolution condemning Syria's deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests.

"It is indecent because (Syrian leader) Bashar Assad has mobilized incredible resources to neutralize his opposition," said Defense Minister Gerard Longuet.

Human Rights Watch called on the Iraqi government Wednesday to revise a draft law it said contained provisions that violate international law.

The New York-based watchdog said it had obtained a copy of the draft law, saying it curtailed freedom of assembly and expression, and contravened Iraq's own constitution.

Israeli jets bombed two sites in Gaza early on Wednesday, wounding one woman, after Palestinians fired three rockets into southern Israel, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

The Israeli military said its aircraft "targeted two weapons manufacturing sites in the northern Gaza Strip."

Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian man during a raid on a northern West Bank refugee camp on Wednesday morning, Palestinian security sources told Agence France Presse.

The Israeli military confirmed that its soldiers had shot a Palestinian but said they had no information on whether he had died.

U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Syrian leader Bashar Assad has missed a series of chances for reform, as he also denounced an attack on the U.S. embassy in Damascus.

Assad, Obama told CBS television, has "missed opportunity after opportunity to present a genuine reform agenda.

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday issued a statement condemning "in the strongest terms" the attacks against the U.S. and French embassies in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The statement which was approved by all 15 council members said the attacks damaged the embassies and injured diplomatic personnel.

U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan pushed for an immediate transition in Yemen during two days of talks with high level government officials in Sanaa, the U.S. embassy there said Wednesday.

"It is essential for all parties to participate in a peaceful political process in order to address the urgent needs of the Yemeni people for improved social, economic and security conditions," he said.

Three Egyptian ex-ministers were sentenced on Tuesday to up to 10 years in jail for profiteering in a case involving a purchase of car number plates, a judicial official told Agence France Presse.

Former interior minister Habib al-Adly was sentenced to five years, while former finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali got 10 years in absentia and ex-prime minister Ahmed Nazif was given a one-year suspended sentence.