Iran said on Tuesday foreign interference would destabilize Syria, rejecting accusations that Tehran was complicit in a "massacre" of civilians by supplying weapons to its main ally's forces.

"We are absolutely not interfering in the internal affairs of Syria, and we consider that the interference of other countries there to be a danger to the security and stability of Syria," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

Eleven Iranian pilgrims recently abducted in restive Syria have been freed, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday without speaking of the fate of more than a dozen other captive Iranians there.

"With the aid of friendly countries... 11 pilgrims have been released," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in his regular weekly briefing, without giving further details.

Syria's government vowed Tuesday to push forth with its onslaught on the central province of Homs in a bid to rid the region from what it said were "armed terrorist gangs".

"Operations to hunt down terrorist groups will continue until security and order are reestablished in all neighborhoods of Homs and its environs and until we overcome all armed persons terrorizing citizens and threatening their life," the interior ministry said in a statement carried by SANA state news agency.

The British-born wife of Syria's president has spoken in support of her husband for the first time since the 11-month uprising against his regime began, a British newspaper reported Tuesday.

"The President is the President of Syria, not a faction of Syrians, and the First Lady supports him in that role," The Times quoted Asma Assad as saying in an email sent via an intermediary from her office.

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel late on Monday causing no casualties or damage, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

"A Qassam rocket hit an open field in the Sha'ar Hanegev regional council," the spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was appalled by the Syrian government's intensified onslaught on the protest city of Homs which he called "unacceptable before humanity."

Ban joined a growing global chorus of condemnation of President Bashar al-Assad's actions since a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria was vetoed by Russia and China on Saturday.

A senior Treasury Department official will travel to Russia and the Middle East for talks about sanctions on Syria and Iran, the U.S. government said Monday, days after Moscow vetoed U.N. action against Damascus.

The Treasury Department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing Daniel Glaser will visit Doha, Muscat and Moscow from February 6-10.

The Kuwaiti emir on Monday asked outgoing Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah to form a new government following a general election won by the Islamist-led opposition.

Sheikh Jaber, a senior member of the ruling al-Sabah family, submitted the resignation of his two-month-old cabinet on Sunday, as required by the constitution after a general election.

Candidates for Egypt's first presidential election since the ouster of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak can start registering from March 15, a month earlier than expected, the head of the elections committee said on Monday.

"Registration for the presidential election will begin on March 15," Farouq Sultan said, according to the state-run MENA news agency.

Residents of Homs on Monday described scenes of panic and carnage in the city of central Syria undergoing a fierce assault by government troops, urging outside powers to intervene to halt the bloodshed.

"What is happening is indescribable," said Wael, a resident reached by telephone. "Security forces have been relentlessly shelling the city since this morning.