The only way to end the violence gripping Syria is by "political dialogue", a top Syrian politician said in an interview published Thursday.

"The only way out is by political dialogue -- with no preconditions," Minister for National Reconciliation Ali Haidar told the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi swore in a new cabinet on Thursday that retained military chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as defense minister while giving the Islamists and their allies several portfolios.

The cabinet, which took office more than a month after Islamist Morsi, reflects a precarious balance of power between the president and the military, which retains broad powers after transferring control to him.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday discussed the question of a political transition in "a post-Bashar al-Assad Syria," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

"They talked not only about how to deal with the current crisis that is being fuelled by the intolerable acts of the regime, but also the prospects for political transition in a post-Bashar al-Assad Syria," Little told reporters.

European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called Thursday for a rapid appointment by the U.N. and the Arab League of a successor to Kofi Annan after he quit as Syria peace envoy.

Expressing her "deep regret" in a statement, the English baroness said the EU "calls for the early appointment of a successor to carry on Mr. Annan's work towards a peaceful political transition in Syria."

Israel on Thursday urged its citizens traveling in Egypt's Sinai peninsula to return immediately amid warnings of an attack.

The travel warning was based on information alleging militant groups from the Gaza Strip are operating in the area and plan to attack or kidnap Israeli tourists.

Attacks in Iraq killed 17 people on Thursday, including four members of a family who were murdered with knives, security and medical officials said.

Militants attacked the house of a Turkmen family in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, killing a father, mother and two daughters with knives.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday approved an extra $12 million in U.S. lifesaving humanitarian aid to Syrians to mitigate what he said were President Bashar Assad's "horrific atrocities."

The grant brings to $76 million the total amount of food, water, medical supplies, clothing, hygiene kits and other aid to some of the 1.5 million people in need in Syria, the White House said in a statement.

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday he was stepping down as international envoy for Syria, complaining that his April peace plan had not received the support it deserved.

As the Syrian army deployed fighter jets against rebels armed with tanks around the commercial capital Aleppo, Annan regretted an "increasing militarization" of the 17-month conflict.

Turkey's military on Thursday staged a military drill on its southeastern border near Syria, just a day after a tank exercise in another border region, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The military tested the speed and maneuverability of the tanks, armored personnel carriers and missile launching platforms deployed in the Mursitpinar region of Sanliurfa province, along the Turkish frontier, said Anatolia.

Australia on Thursday urged the world "not to neglect" the conflict in Syria, where thousands have been killed and many more have fled to neighboring countries.

"We urge the world not to neglect this crisis even for a moment," Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr told a joint news conference with his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh in Amman.