NATO pledged on Wednesday no let-up of its relentless air war in Libya after Moammar Gadhafi vowed he would never surrender, even as bombs rained down on his Tripoli residence.

Spain, meanwhile, joined the growing list of countries which recognize the rebels seeking to topple Gadhafi as the sole representative of Libya's people, leaving the strongman more isolated than ever.

Representatives of Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas will meet in Cairo on June 14 for new talks on the formation of an interim government, a Hamas official said Wednesday.

In a statement issued by Hamas, Ezzat al-Rasheq said the meeting would follow up on several issues under the terms of a reconciliation deal signed by the two groups last month.

Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a string of recent suicide bombings that killed at least 36 people, including a military intelligence chief.

A car bomb driven by a suicide attacker on Monday killed Colonel Nuri al-Mashhadani and 11 other people, many of them soldiers, Iraqi military sources said.

The U.N. Security Council will on Wednesday discuss a resolution proposed by European nations condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on opposition protests.

Russia and China have strongly opposed Security Council action on Syria, but Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "If anyone votes against that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their conscience."

Turkey will not close its doors to refugees fleeing the repression in Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday as he expressed his sadness about unrest across the border.

Erdogan, who has become increasingly critical of the President Bashar Assad's regime, also urged authorities in Damascus to demonstrate more tolerance towards its civilians.

Tunisia has postponed its first election following the ouster of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, set to take place in July, to October 23, interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said Wednesday.

"We have taken into account all the views and have decided to hold the elections on October 23," Essebsi said during a meeting of political parties, regional representatives and civil society.

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.