A Syrian-born U.S. citizen has been charged with spying on anti-Assad protesters and providing recordings to the regime's intelligence agents in a bid to silence the opposition, U.S. officials said Wednesday, but the Syrian embassy in Washington denied such allegations.

A federal grand jury charged Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, 47, on October 5 in a six-count indictment for his efforts against activists in the United States and Syria opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime. He was arrested Tuesday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned on Wednesday the alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington, saying it harms Gulf-Iranian relations, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Riyadh strongly condemned the "sinful and abhorrent" attempt to assassinate its Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir, applauding U.S. efforts to foil the attempt.

A top commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday denied any involvement of the force in the plot alleged by the United States to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

"America's claims about the involvement of some members of the Guards in the fabricated terror plot (targeting) a diplomat from an Arab country in Washington are ridiculous and baseless," Guards deputy commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami was quoted as saying on the state television website.

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned on Wednesday the "sinful and abhorrent" attempt to assassinate its ambassador to Washington, a day after the United States claimed Iran was behind the plot, SPA state news agency reported, quoting an unnamed official.

"The Kingdom strongly condemns the sinful and abhorrent attempt to assassinate the (Saudi) envoy... to the United States," SPA said, quoting the official.

Israel has apologized to Egypt for the border killings of six policemen in August that sparked a diplomatic crisis between the two neighbors, Egypt's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The policemen were killed on August 18, as Israeli troops hunted down militants who had carried out deadly attacks near the border with Israel.

A former chief of Saudi intelligence said Wednesday there was overwhelming evidence that Iran was behind a plot to kill the Saudi ambassador to Washington and must "pay the price".

"The burden of proof is overwhelming... and clearly shows official Iranian responsibility for this. Somebody in Iran will have to pay the price, whatever the level of these persons is," Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal told a conference on oil in London.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Wednesday warned the United States against "confrontation" over accusations Tehran plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

"We are not seeking confrontation; our policy is cooperation and interaction. If they want to impose a confrontation upon the Iranian nation, the consequences of this issue will be more severe for them," Salehi told reporters after a cabinet session, the ISNA news agency reported.

Prominent Syrian dissident Walid al-Bunni, arrested in August, was freed on bail on Wednesday, his lawyer said.

"The Damascus court of appeals on Wednesday freed opposition figure Walid al-Bunni in exchange for a bail of 1,150 Syrian pounds ($23). He will be tried later for inciting (anti-regime) demonstrations and sectarianism," said Michel Shammas.

Egyptian soldiers never fire on citizens and if they did use their weapons the results would be catastrophic, a military general said on Wednesday, days after deadly clashes with Christians.

"The armed forces cannot direct their fire at the people," General Mahmud Hegazi told a news conference days after the armed forces clashed with Coptic Christian protesters, leaving 25 people dead.

Iraq this month took responsibility for all of its airspace for the first time since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said on Wednesday.

"On October 1, 2011, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) transferred management of the Baghdad/Balad Airspace sector to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA)," said an embassy statement.