Iraq has completed its preparations for an Arab summit that is to be held in Baghdad at the end of March, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in a statement on Monday.

"The president of the republic, Jalal Talabani assured today that special preparations for the Arab summit are completed, and Baghdad is now ready to receive the Arab leaders," the statement on the Iraqi presidency's website said.

Syrian forces on Monday bombarded the city of Rastan for a second straight day, monitors said, as former U.N. chief Kofi Annan and other world envoys prepared a diplomatic drive to end the bloodshed in Syria.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos, meanwhile, said Syria had finally approved a visit, which she would make from Wednesday to Friday, following widespread complaints about President Bashar al-Assad's refusal to let her in.

Iran's new parliament will be largely dominated by conservatives who support supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to latest results Monday of last week's election.

The parliament, also known as the Majlis, will have about half of its current members replaced by newcomers, many of whom ran on an "independent" ticket.

Air France cancelled its Paris-Damascus flight on Monday because of unrest linked to ongoing protests against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

"Flight AF-570 is cancelled because of the situation in Syria," a spokesman told Agence France Presse, saying no decision had yet been taken on flights later in the week.

A Palestinian student was in critical condition on Monday after being hit in the head when Israeli troops broke up a protest near Ramallah, medical and security sources said.

Palestinian security sources said the student, 20-year-old Mohammed Abu Awad, was hit in the head by a bullet during a demonstration near the Atara checkpoint, five kilometers north of Ramallah.

Russia will meet with foreign ministers of Arab states to discuss the Syria crisis in Cairo on March 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

"I especially value today's chance to prepare for a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia and the Arab League states that will be held in Cairo on March 10," news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying after talks with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. capital late Sunday for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Iran's nuclear ambitions and how to deal with them.

The plane carrying the Israeli leader and his aides touched down at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at about 11:05 pm local time (0405 GMT Monday).

An attack by al-Qaida extremists on troops in Yemen's restive south sparked fierce clashes in which at least 103 soldiers and 25 militants were killed, medics and military officials said on Monday.

"The toll from the battles between the army and Qaida militants ... has risen to at least 103" soldiers, a military official said.

Suspected al-Qaida gunmen, some wearing army uniforms, raged through a western Iraq city on Monday in a pre-dawn shooting spree that killed 27 policemen, including two officers killed execution-style.

The assault, launched at about 2:00 am (23:00 GMT on Sunday), saw insurgents dressed in military uniforms simultaneously attacking two checkpoints in the east and west of Haditha before storming other security posts and raiding the homes of the two officers.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Sunday urged Moscow to "advise" its ally Syria to stop its deadly crackdown against dissent.

"Unfortunately, international efforts have failed and we have not seen results to stop the bloodshed and massacres in Syria," he told a news conference in the Saudi capital.