Ten Yemeni soldiers and 21 suspected al-Qaida militants were killed in clashes in south Yemen on Saturday, the defence ministry said on its news website.

Fierce clashes erupted in the city of Zinjibar, in Abyan province, between gunmen who have seized control of most of the city and besieged troops from the 25th mechanized brigade, a military official said on the 26Sep.net website.

Violence north of Baghdad on Saturday killed nine people, including five members of a Sunni Arab family slain early in the morning, Iraqi security and medical officials said.

The attacks come with just months to go before all U.S. soldiers must withdraw from the country, with American officials pressing their counterparts in Baghdad to decide whether or not they want an extended U.S. military presence.

Suspected al-Qaida militants killed five Yemeni soldiers and wounded others on Saturday in an ambush near the southern city of Loder, witnesses said.

Witnesses said gunmen ambushed an army convoy carrying supplies and reinforcements to the 111th brigade, which is based in Loder, in Abyan province.

Around 4,300 Syrians who fled a brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protesters are staying in camps in southern Turkey, the Anatolie news agency reported Saturday.

Hundreds have fled in the last 24 hours, the agency said citing local sources.

Hundreds of Kuwaiti youths have rallied for the ouster of the oil-rich Gulf state's prime minister and for democratic reforms to resolve an ongoing political crisis.

Protesting for the fourth straight week late Friday, the youths also called for the removal of deputy premier Sheikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah who local media reported has submitted his resignation.

A general who has sided with anti-regime protests said in an interview published Saturday that Yemen will be safer without embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh in its fight against al-Qaida.

General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar accused the Yemeni president, who is being treated in the Saudi capital for bomb blast wounds, of nurturing the jihadist network in a ploy to "blackmail" foreign countries.

The White House significantly toughened its stance on Syria on Friday, calling for an "immediate end to brutality and violence" and warning President Bashar Assad was leading his nation on a "dangerous path."

White House spokesman Jay Carney issued a statement after Syrian forces killed at least 25 people in nationwide democracy protests and as security forces launched a long-feared crackdown on the northwestern flashpoint town of Jisr al-Shughur.

Israeli police briefly entered the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound after Friday prayers and fired tear gas towards stone-throwing youths, police and mosque officials said.

"After prayers some of the Arab youths started throwing stones," a Jerusalem police spokeswoman said.

Turkey has offered Moammar Gadhafi guarantees to leave Libya but has yet to receive a reply, as rebels say loyalist forces killed 20 people in a fierce assault on Misrata.

Fresh NATO-led strikes sent up plumes of smoke Friday in Tripoli, where the strongman has his residence and headquarters.

Libya's embattled leader Moammar Gadhafi appears to have written to the U.S. Congress to praise its criticism of President Barack Obama over NATO raids on Libya, officials said Friday.

In the letter seen by Agence France Presse, Gadhafi comments on growing debate in Congress over whether Obama has usurped his constitutional authority by committing U.S. forces to the conflict without authorization by lawmakers.