Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated against Syrian President Bashar Assad in a protest on Friday in the mostly Sunni town of Heet, condemning a bloody crackdown by his regime.

The protesters, who gathered outside al-Faruq mosque in the center of the western town, shouted slogans describing the Syrian leader as a "coward" and "the enemy of God," and called for violent resistance against his rule.

France will close its embassy in Syria to denounce the "scandalous" repression by President Bashar Assad's regime, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday at the close of an EU summit.

French Foreign Minister "Alain Juppe and I have decided to close our embassy in Syria," Sarkozy told a news conference.

Israel is keeping the option of military action against Iran open if the international community does not halt its suspected nuclear weapons drive, Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman said Friday.

"We are still waiting. We want to believe that the international community will be able to handle this threat... But again we keep all options on the table," Lieberman said when asked about the possibility of a strike on Iran.

The U.N. rights body appealed to Syria on Friday to respect international law after receiving unconfirmed reports of 17 "grisly" executions as forces overran Baba Amr in the city of Homs.

"We are alarmed at reports starting to come out of the Babr Amr district of Homs after it was taken over by Syrian forces yesterday," said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Israel's state comptroller has questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over lavish private trips abroad he made that were financed by businessmen, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday.

It said he was questioned in secret for more than two hours at the start of the week, over an affair which broke out almost a year ago after an investigation by a private television station, Channel 10.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stopped short of backing Bashar Assad in the Syrian crisis, saying Russia had no special relationship with his regime and refusing to predict that the president would stay in power.

With pressure mounting on Moscow to harden its line against Assad, Putin called on both the Damascus regime and opposition rebels to agree a ceasefire but also criticized the West for backing the rebels in the conflict.

Syrian security forces on Friday killed 75 people across the country and opened fire to disperse demonstrations in the cities of Aleppo and Damascus as thousands took to the streets, activists and monitors said.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said among the victims were several children, two women and 14 summarily executed in the flashpoint Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron called Friday for the "criminal" Syrian regime to be held to account.

"One day, no matter how long it takes, there will be a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime," Cameron said as he joined European Union leaders on the second day of a two-day summit.

Seven Americans on trial over charges their pro-democracy groups fomented unrest have flown out of Egypt after the U.S. posted nearly $5 million in bail for them and nine others who managed to leave before a travel ban was imposed.

Thursday's departure of the seven eased a deep diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Egypt that had been building for two months, following a crackdown on pro-democracy and human rights groups by the Egyptian government.

President Barack Obama on Thursday called U.S. support for Israel "sacrosanct," and said he wanted the country to maintain its "military superiority" as he prepares to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The two leaders are expected to make discussions about Iran's nuclear development program a priority during their planned meeting Monday at the White House.