The head of Syria's main opposition bloc, Burhan Ghalioun, formally resigned from his post, a statement issued by the Syrian National Council said Thursday after a two-day meeting in Istanbul.

The SNC "office decided to accept the resignation and to ask the council president to pursue his work until the election of a new president at a meeting on June 9-10", it said.

Russia is ready to host direct talks between the Syrian regime and rebel representatives, a top official said Wednesday, in a bid to end 14 months of bloodshed that has claimed over 10,000 lives.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said peace mediator Kofi Annan's deputy was trying to secure agreement with the fractured foreign-based Syrian opposition on who could meet Bashar Assad's Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa.

A front runner in Egypt's presidential election, former premier Ahmed Shafiq, told Agence France Presse Wednesday the country would face "huge problems" if his Islamist rivals won as Egyptians flocked to the polls on the first day of voting.

Shafiq added that voters had made a "mistake" by allowing the Muslim Brotherhood to win in earlier parliamentary elections.

Speculation was rife on Wednesday among Syrian anti-regime activists over the alleged "killing" of President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law who is also Syria's deputy defense minister.

Assef Shawkat, former head of military intelligence, was poisoned, according to anti-regime activists. The authorities in Damascus could not be reached for comment and have not responded publicly to the claim.

Kuwait's cabinet on Wednesday boycotted parliament for a second day as MPs accused the government of plotting to dissolve the opposition-controlled house.

The government and opposition are at loggerheads over two requests to question Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali over alleged financial and administrative irregularities.

Three people were killed and 18 others wounded in attacks in Iraq on Wednesday, security officials said, as Baghdad hosted key nuclear talks in its latest effort to emerge from decades of isolation.

Three people were killed and 14 others wounded in a shooting and three roadside bombings in Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, a police lieutenant colonel and Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim of Baquba General Hospital said.

Three Iranian truck drivers have been abducted by "armed opposition groups" in Syria, according to Iran's charge d’affaires in Damascus quoted by media Wednesday.

Abbas Golrou said the drivers, identified as Morteza Adeli, Hussein Alinejad and Esmaeel Mohammed Zeinali, were taking unspecified cargo from Iran to Syria when they were abducted on Monday.

Saudi's defense ministry has signed a $3 billion deal with Britain to buy trainer jets for the kingdom's air force, SPA state news agency reported on Wednesday.

The deal also includes simulators, ground and training equipment and spare parts, SPA said, quoting a defense ministry official.

Baghdad's airport opened Wednesday morning a day after a dust storm stopped flights, officials said, ahead of talks between world powers and Iran over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.

It had been unclear on Tuesday whether the storm would clear in time for the talks between the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany -- and Iran.

Regime forces Wednesday pounded rebel bastion Rastan, in central Syria, at an average rate of "one shell a minute," said a monitoring group, adding that six people were killed across the country.

Besieged by regime forces, Rastan is home to a large number of rebel fighters, according to opposition sources.