Iraq's parliament on Friday called an emergency session after a curfew was imposed in the southern city of Basra following a fresh outbreak of deadly protests over poor public services and as shells were fired into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran on Friday discussed a step-by-step "stabilization" in Syria's Idlib, with a possibility of peace with some rebel groups, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after the talks.

Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said in Berlin Friday his country would invest some 10 billion euros ($11.6 billion) in Germany, as he battles a policy of isolation by neighbouring states.

Ankara has drawn up a plan to offer armed rebel groups safe conduct out of the Syrian province of Idlib in a bid to avert the bloodshed of a major assault by Damascus, a pro-government newspaper reported on Friday.

The Trump administration is now pledging the U.S. will remain in Syria until the "enduring defeat" of the Islamic State group, a move that could signal open-ended American involvement in the war-torn country.

The announcement "means we're not in a hurry to pull out," the U.S. special representative for Syria, James Jeffrey, told journalists in Washington Thursday, although he added that didn't necessarily mean a long-term American military presence in the country.

Three mortar shells were fired into Baghdad's green zone early Friday as a curfew was imposed in the southern Iraqi city of Basra after a fresh outbreak of violent protests over poor public services left one person dead and 35 injured.

Yemen's Huthi rebels, expected at UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva with the government, remained grounded in Sanaa on Friday citing fears they would not be allowed to return to the capital. 

In northwestern Syria, 68-year-old Abu Khaled was among dozens to have set up camp in a field, hoping that Turkish soldiers nearby would shield him from bombardment by Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Thousands of people protested on Thursday outside local government offices in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, partly damaged by fire in demonstrations that have seen seven people killed this week.

The jailed leader of a Moroccan protest movement on Thursday ended a hunger strike six days after launching it in protest against prison conditions, his lawyer said.