MPs engaged in heated debates Monday over plans to hold a vote in July on a much-delayed constitution and schedule new elections in October as part of efforts to resolve a political crisis plaguing Tunisia.

"We denounce this hastiness concerning the calendar" of the elections, Democratic Alliance party MP Mohamed Hamdi said after the office of the president of the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) announced the proposed dates.

The United States Monday condemned what it called a "terrorist" assault on Syrian regime forces who came under fire after crossing into Iraq last week in an attack claimed by an al-Qaida group.

"Any kind of attack like this, any kind of terrorism like this is something that we should condemn," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Britain's government on Monday challenged a ruling blocking the extradition of Jordanian terror suspect Abu Qatada, saying that the justice system in the Arab nation could be trusted.

The Court of Appeal in London reserved judgment until a later date after hearing arguments from the interior ministry and from Abu Qatada's lawyers.

Israel's military chief Benny Gantz said on Monday that "terrorist" groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad alongside other insurgents were becoming stronger.

"The situation in Syria has become exceptionally dangerous. The terrorist organisations are becoming stronger on the ground. Now they are fighting against Assad but in the future they could turn against us," Gantz said.

Human rights violations in Iran spiraled in 2012, a United Nations monitor said Monday, spotlighting abuses including repression of freedom of speech, torture and secret executions.

"The prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant serious concern," Ahmed Shaheed told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Whether Iran will rein in its nuclear program or push ahead with its suspected bid for a weapons capability is likely to become clear by the end of 2013, Israel's Ehud Barak said on Monday.

"Iran remains the central challenge this year, and it is possible we’ll see the direction determined by the end of the year," the outgoing defense minister told members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Monday said the European Union may need to rethink its Syria arms embargo to help insurgents fighting the Damascus regime.

"It seems obvious to me that the question of lifting the arms embargo will be increasingly on the table due to the evident imbalance between Bashar Assad, who is being supplied with powerful weaponry from Iran and Russia, and the National Coalition, which does not have such weapons," Fabius said after talks with his 26 European Union counterparts.

At least three civilians were killed and 28 others wounded on Monday when mortar shells slammed into a neighborhood in southern Damascus, Syria's state-run SANA news agency reported.

"A mortar shell fired by terrorists fell behind a shop on Duwaliya road, killing three civilians and wounding 28 others," SANA said, adding that another shell slammed into nearby Bab Sharqi district causing further casualties.

The EU's anti-terror chief warned Europe on Monday to remain on its guard, especially against the threat of European jihadists who are finding new safe havens from Syria to Mali.

Gilles de Kerchove, marking a day of remembrance for victims of terror, said the threat remained real whether "it stems from terrorist organisations or lone actors."

A Ukrainian journalist held for several months by kidnappers in Syria is safe in Damascus after fleeing from her captors on Monday, her family said.

Ankhar Kochneva, an Arabic speaker who was working as an assistant for Russian media, was kidnapped in early October. She has reportedly said she was held by opposition forces who treated her poorly.