Syrian President Bashar Assad's first speech since June showed he remains confident enough in his military strength after 21 months of conflict to thumb his nose at demands for his exit, analysts say.

Assad broke his silence after the regime weathered a storm of devastating events over the summer and autumn, said Thomas Pierret, Syria specialist and professor at the University of Edinburgh.

Syria's tolerated opposition on Monday rejected an offer to enter into talks with the government of President Bashar Assad to find a solution to end the 21-month conflict.

The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB) issued its verdict even as Prime Minister Wael al-Halaqi said his cabinet would meet soon to draw up a mechanism for the peace roadmap announced on Sunday by Assad.

The Netherlands' Patriot missile batteries on Monday began their journey to fellow NATO member Turkey where they are to defend civilians near the border from a possible Syrian attack.

Around 160 vehicles carrying the missiles and equipment for 300 Dutch support troops left the Bestkazerne military base in Vredepeel in the southeastern Netherlands on Monday morning, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

The Egyptian army foiled a bid early Monday to attack a Coptic church in the Rafah border town with Gaza as the minority Christian community began celebrating its Christmas, MENA news agency reported.

"Army units foiled an attack against the Rafah church at 1:00 am (23:00 GMT Sunday) and seized a car packed with explosives and weapons near the church," the official news agency said.

Pope Benedict XVI called Monday for a ceasefire and "constructive dialogue" in Syria, warning that there will be no victors should the violent conflict drag on further.

"I think first and foremost of Syria, torn apart by endless slaughter and the scene of dreadful suffering among its civilian population," 85-year-old Benedict told ambassadors to the Holy See gathered at the Vatican.

Libyan Islamist leader Ahmed Abu Khattala said on Monday that a man was killed and another injured when planting a car bomb in a bid to assassinate him.

"One person was killed and another was wounded as they were planting a bomb in my brother's car with the aim of assassinating me," he said of the Sunday night incident.

Syria's state media said Monday that government troops repulsed a rebel attack on a police school in the northern city of Aleppo, one day after President Bashar Assad called on Syrians to fight an opposition driven by what he characterized as religious extremists.

The official SANA news agency said regime forces killed and wounded members of a "terrorist group" in the fighting late Sunday, but did not provide a number. The government and the pro-regime media refer to the rebels seeking to topple Assad as terrorists.

Yemeni authorities impounded 500 illegal motorbikes in a three-day campaign to put an end to hit-and-run shootings which killed dozens of security officers last year, officials said on Monday.

"The campaign has succeeded in stopping 500 unlicensed motorbikes and 72 cars without number plates, some of which are suspected to have been used in assassinations," an interior ministry report said, adding that 50 weapons such as Kalashnikovs and other firearms were seized during the crackdown.

Kuwait's lower court on Monday handed a two-year jail term to an opposition tweeter for allegedly insulting the emir in the second such sentence in as many days, a human rights activist said.

"Ayyad al-Harbi was sentenced to two years in jail," director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mohammad al-Humaidi said on his Twitter account.

Iran on Monday threw its weight behind a plan outlined by Syrian President Bashar Assad to end the civil war in his country, reiterating Tehran's solid support for its most important regional ally.

"The Islamic republic... supports President Bashar Assad's initiative for a comprehensive solution to the country's crisis," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a statement on his ministry website.