A court in the Egyptian capital on Sunday handed an Islamist preacher accused of insulting Christianity an 11-year suspended jail sentence.

Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah had been charged with ripping up and burning a copy of the Bible during a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo against the anti-Islam film, "Innocence of Muslims", that was produced in the U.S.

Syria will seek to expand its relations with close ally Iran after moderate cleric Hassan Rowhani's presidential election victory, Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said on Sunday.

"Syria wishes to further expand its relations with the new Iranian leadership," Halqi said as he received a high-level Iranian economic delegation in Damascus, state news agency SANA said.

The United Nations on Sunday expressed concern about the plight of Palestinian refugees in war-ravaged Syria, as it reiterated a $200-million appeal for funding to help them.

"In the past five or six months, I saw a very big deterioration for Palestinians in Syria," Commissioner General Filippo Grandi of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) told reporters in the Jordanian capital.

An EgyptAir plane which made an emergency landing in Britain en route from Cairo to New York after a suspicious note was found on board resumed its journey on Sunday.

British fighter jets escorted the plane to Glasgow Prestwick Airport on Saturday after the discovery of a note threatening to set it on fire, authorities and eyewitnesses said.

The Syrian government on Sunday condemned Egypt's decision to cut ties with Damascus and back the armed uprising against President Bashar Assad, calling it an "irresponsible" move.

"The Syrian Arab Republic condemns this irresponsible position," an unnamed Syrian official told state news agency SANA.

Saudi Arabia plans to supply the Syrian opposition with anti-aircraft missiles to counter President Bashar Assad's air force, German news weekly Der Spiegel reported Sunday.

The article, citing a classified report received by the German foreign intelligence service and the German government last week, said Riyadh was looking at sending European-made Mistral-class MANPADS, or man-portable air-defense systems.

Kuwait's constitutional court on Sunday scrapped last December's parliamentary election which was boycotted by the opposition but approved the controversial electoral law that sparked the boycott.

The court, whose rulings are final, called for a fresh election to replace the current loyalist-dominated parliament, in the verdict read out by presiding judge Yousef al-Mutawah.

King Abdullah II vowed Sunday to protect Jordan from the war in Syria, after the United States announced its warplanes and missiles will remain in the kingdom at the end of military exercises.

"Should the world not act and help us adequately address this issue, and should this issue become a threat... then we are capable at any time to take the necessary measures to protect our country and people's interests," said the Jordanian ruler.

Saudi Arabia has cut back the number of pilgrims that may perform the hajj this year due to construction work aimed at expanding the holy site of Mecca, the hajj minister said.

The authorities had decided to reduce by half the number of pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia, and by about 20 percent those from abroad, said Bandar Hajjar.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the world should keep up pressure on Iran to rein in its nuclear program and avoid thinking the election of a moderate president will bring change.

"The international community should not fall into wishful thinking and be tempted to ease pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program," Netanyahu said at the start a meeting of his cabinet.