Egypt looks set for a run-off presidential vote between the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi and Mubarak-era minister Ahmed Shafiq, pitting the Islamists who helped oust a dictator against his last premier.

A run-off between Shafiq and Mursi will further polarize a nation that rose up against president Hosni Mubarak's authoritarianism 15 months ago but has since suffered a spike in violence and a declining economy.

As one diplomatic effort after another fails to end more than a year of brutal violence in Syria, the Obama administration is preparing a plan that would essentially give U.S. nods of approval to arms transfers from Arab nations to some Syrian opposition fighters.

The effort, U.S. officials told The Associated Press, would vet members of the Free Syrian Army and other groups to determine whether they are suitable recipients of munitions to fight the Assad government and to ensure that weapons don't wind up in the hands of al-Qaida-linked terrorists or Hizbullah that could target Israel.

Kuwait's Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali resigned on Thursday following a marathon grilling in which opposition MPs accused him of wide-ranging financial irregularities.

"I submit my resignation from my post," declared the 69-year-old minister after a passionate address in parliament following the 11-hour questioning.

Egypt wrapped up two days of polling Thursday in a landmark presidential election that pitted stability against the ideals of the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule but the hard-fought contest threatened to go to a runoff.

The count began immediately after polling stations closed at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT), with for the first time an unknown outcome that may well force a second round between the two frontrunners next month.

A mortar attack in Baghdad killed one person and wounded six others on Thursday, in the second attack in the capital during key talks on Iran's nuclear program, security and medical officials said.

An interior ministry official said a mortar round struck a street in the Bataween area of central Baghdad, which lies across the Tigris River from the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where the talks between Iran and world powers pressing it to scale back its nuclear program are taking place.

Syria's embattled President Bashar Assad said on Thursday his government is capable of finding a way out of the crisis gripping his country, as he met with a visiting Iranian government minister.

"Syria has been able to overcome the pressures and threats it has faced for years and is able to get out of this crisis thanks to the strength of its people and commitment to unity and independence," Assad said, quoted by SANA state news agency.

Egypt's press on Thursday hailed the country's first presidential election since a popular uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak as "free and historic," despite the looming uncertainty.

"We have achieved a dream," read the headline on the state-owned al-Akhbar newspaper.

The Syrian army and security forces have been responsible for the majority of the serious rights abuses committed since March this year as they hunt down defectors and opponents, U.N.-appointed investigators said on Thursday.

"Most of the serious human rights violations documented by the Commission in this update were committed by the Syrian army and security services," said the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, established by the U.N. Human Rights Council last year to investigate abuses there since the crackdown.

Syrian regime forces pounded the town of Rastan in central Homs province on Thursday, killing three civilians, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Violence elsewhere in Syria killed 10 other people in the morning, the Britain-based watchdog reported, including four who were summarily executed in northwestern Idlib province.

Egyptians were voting Thursday on the second day of a gripping presidential election in which candidates are pitting stability against the ideals of the uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak's rule.

Small queues formed outside polling stations after they opened at 8:00 am (06:00 GMT), with voting expected to gain momentum during the day after authorities declared Thursday a public holiday to allow public sector employees to cast their ballots.