Arab economy ministers opened talks in Baghdad on Tuesday ahead of a regional summit, focused on increasing tourism as the spectra of the crackdown in Syria loomed over the meetings.

Arab League officials have insisted the March 27-29 talks, a pivotal moment as Iraq bids to re-emerge as a key Middle East player, will cover a wide range of issues, but Syria, where monitors say over 9,100 people have been killed in an anti-regime uprising, remains in the limelight.

Hundreds of Syrian opponents gathered in Istanbul Tuesday to envision a "democratic" state in Syria, seeking to prepare for the eventual aftermath of President Bashar Assad's era.

A large number of opposition factions gathered behind closed doors in the Turkish city to discuss the basic principles for a future Syrian state, which the Syrian National Council (SNC), the umbrella opposition, has pledged to be multinational, civil and democratic.

Beijing on Tuesday called on all parties in Syria to cooperate with the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan, as the United Nations and Arab League envoy held talks with Chinese leaders.

"We hope that all parties in Syria can cooperate with Mr. Annan's mediation efforts, in order to create conditions for the political settlement of the Syrian issue," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists.

An Israeli soldier was stabbed and three Palestinians were shot during a confrontation near the West Bank town of Ramallah overnight, sources on both sides said.

The soldier was lightly wounded in the incident but the condition of the three Palestinians was not immediately clear, the Israeli army said.

Syrian security forces killed at least 57 people on Tuesday across Syria, amid clashes with rebel troops, including near the border with Lebanon, activists said.

Thirty-one people were killed in Idlib, including 23 who were summarily executed, 12 people were killed in Homs, eight in Hama, five in the countryside around Damascus and one in Daraa, the uprising’s Local Coordination Committees announced.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will late this week launch a new diplomatic drive aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, making visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, officials said Monday.

Clinton will meet in Riyadh with Saudi King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal as well as foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia's five Gulf Arab neighbors, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Monday.

Yemen's President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi travelled to Riyadh on Monday, his first foreign trip since being appointed last month, to meet Saudi King Abdullah, the SPA state news agency reported.

Their discussions touched on bilateral and regional issues, the report said without elaborating.

Syria has responded afresh to U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan on his six-point proposals to end the crisis in the country, the former U.N. chief's spokesman said Monday.

"The Syrian government has formally responded to the Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan's 6-point plan, as endorsed by the U.N. Security Council," he said in a statement. "Mr. Annan is studying it and will respond very shortly."

Norway said Monday it was closing its embassy in Damascus for security reasons, following other countries that have done the same for safety concerns or to protest against the regime's crackdown.

Several European Union countries, as well as the United States, Turkey and six Gulf state monarchies have already shut their missions.

Syrian forces clashed Monday with a group of "terrorists" seeking to enter the restive northwestern province of Idlib from Turkey, killing and wounding a number of them, official media reported.

"The authorities today foiled an attempt by a group of armed terrorists to enter Syria from Turkey, in an area between the towns of Darkush and Salqin," the official SANA news agency reported.