A Syrian activist says elite government forces are heading to the country's north in possible preparation for an attack on a town where soldiers reportedly joined an anti-government uprising.

The activist, Mustafa Osso, says witnesses told him that long lines of tanks and thousands of troops were on the move toward Jisr al-Shughour on Wednesday.

The health of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is being treated in Riyadh from bomb wounds, is "stable," a Saudi official affirmed Wednesday.

"The condition of the Yemeni president is stable," the official told Agence France Presse requesting anonymity, adding that the veteran leader was waiting for doctors to "appoint a date for cosmetic surgery."

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip was reopened on Wednesday, ending a four-day closure amid disagreements between Egyptian and Hamas officials.

In a statement, the Hamas manager of the border crossing, Ayub Abu Shaar, said the terminal was reopened "after an agreement with the Egyptian side that all the parties agreed to."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left here Wednesday for Abu Dhabi to consult with countries backing military action in Libya and looking at more ways to help the Libyan opposition.

The talks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) capital on Thursday come after President Barack Obama said NATO's mission in Libya was forging "inexorable" advances that meant it was only a matter of time before defiant Moammar Gadhafi's departure.

U.S. President Barack Obama met the crown prince of Bahrain Tuesday, as Washington backed the Sunni royal family's national dialogue to ease the political crisis in the Shiite majority kingdom.

Obama dropped by a meeting between Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, in a White House protocol mechanism used to allow the president to meet lower level officials.

Syrian Ambassador to France Lamia Shakkour on Tuesday denied that she had quit her post, in interviews with Syria’s state TV and Al-Arabiya TV, shortly after the France 24 network aired an audio statement purportedly from her saying she was quitting.

In her phone interview with Al-Arabiya, Shakkour said her voice was imitated by the person who called France 24, stressing that she did not speak to any television.

Western powers on Tuesday stepped up moves for a U.N. Security Council vote condemning Syria's crackdown on opposition protests, despite strong opposition from Russia and China.

France, Britain and the United States are considering pressing for a vote by the 15-member Security Council on a resolution that could embarrass Russia and China by forcing them into a veto.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has vowed to fight to death in a surprise speech during the heaviest day of NATO shelling in the capital Tripoli.

Gadhafi's voice suddenly emerged on Libyan television Tuesday afternoon -- barely an hour after the last some 30 NATO strikes pounded the capital.

Syrian dissidents warned Tuesday of a harsh backlash as troop reinforcements headed to northwestern Syrian after the authorities said 120 policemen were massacred in the town of Jisr Shughour.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, a Facebook group spurring protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called for "Tuesday of resurrection" rallies and appealed to the army to protect civilians against regime agents.

Tunisians will learn Wednesday whether the first elections since their popular uprising toppled longtime ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and sparked off the Arab Spring will be held as promised on July 24.

The interim government faces objections over the date from the independent electoral commission, which said truly credible polls could not be organized in such a short time and called for a postponement to October 16.