Four Syrian soldiers were killed and several civilians wounded on Thursday during clashes between troops and deserters in a town in northwest Syria, rights activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops and security agents had attacked villages in the region,

NATO allies debated on Thursday how quickly to end the bombing campaign in Libya as they reviewed progress in their plans to withdraw combat troops from the 10-year-old war in Afghanistan.

With Moammar Gadhafi diehards surrounded by the new leadership's forces in Sirte and Bani Walid, and the fallen Libyan leader in hiding, the number of NATO air strikes has drastically declined in recent weeks.

Fresh fighting erupted during the night between government troops and gunmen loyal to opposition tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar in Sanaa's northern al-Hasaba district, witnesses said Thursday.

The two sides traded machinegun and mortar fire for around two hours late on Wednesday, the witnesses said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday slammed Russia and China for vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, saying the people of Syria "will not forget."

Clinton said the Council had "abrogated its responsibility" by failing to push through the European draft resolution that would have threatened possible action against Syrian President Bashar Assad over a crackdown on protests.

The United States said Wednesday it was "incoherent" for UNESCO to back the Palestinian Authority's bid to join the cultural body with the rights of a state and said it could fuel tension.

A process is underway at the U.N. Security Council to study the Palestinian request to be admitted as a member state, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.

Bahrain's public prosecutor on Wednesday ordered a retrial of 20 Shiite medics jailed by a security court for up to 15 years on charges related to a month of pro-democracy protests.

"In today's decision, Dr Ali al-Boainain, attorney general, stated that the department of public prosecution has studied the judgment rendered by the national safety court on September 28 and determined that the cases should be retried in the civilian courts," a statement said.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon "regrets" the Security Council's failure to agree a resolution on Syria and believes there is a "moral obligation to prevent further bloodshed," his spokesman said Wednesday.

"The secretary general regrets that the Security Council has not been able to agree and hopes that it will overcome its divisions and find a collective way to address the situation," spokesman Martin Nesirky said of Russia and China's veto of a European-backed resolution on Syria.

Libya's new leaders on Wednesday ordered all heavy weapons to be removed from Tripoli, warning their prolonged presence risked giving a bad image of the revolution which ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

"We call for heavy weapons to be removed from Tripoli and all the liberated towns, and for them to be gathered outside town," Ahmed Bani, spokesman for the National Transition Council's defense ministry, told a news conference.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will continue to work with Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair, his spokesman said on Wednesday, despite criticism of his stance as "pro-Israeli."

"The Palestinian presidency will continue to work with him given he is the choice of the Quartet," Nabil Abu Rudeina told Agence France Presse by telephone from Strasbourg where Abbas is currently attending a session of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.

The executive committee of the United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Wednesday recommended that the world body accept Palestine as a full member with the rights of a state.

The committee's member states voted by 40 votes in favor to four against -- with 14 abstentions -- to approve the Palestinian bid, which will now be submitted to the UNESCO general assembly at the end of the month for approval.