Clashes erupted between rival tribes in the Libyan town of Zliten late Thursday killing two people, a local official said, in the latest tribal or ethnic violence since the ouster of Moamer Kadhafi's iron-fisted regime.

"Anti-aircraft guns, rocket propelled grenades and light weapons were used in the fighting," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity. "So far, we have a toll of two dead and several wounded."

U.S. military planners are studying contingency plans for a potential mission in Syria without precedent -- securing the regime's chemical weapons in the midst of a raging civil war, officials and experts said.

No military action is imminent at the moment, according to officials, but the Pentagon is grappling with an array of hellish scenarios that could emerge as the conflict escalates, with the Damascus regime possibly losing control of its chemical arsenal.

More than 100 tanks have been seized from a militia loyal to Libya's ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi that posed as "revolutionaries" in the region of Tarhuna, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

A ministry official said an investigation into twin car bomb attacks on Sunday helped to detect the militia housed in barracks in Souk al-Ahad near Tarhuna, 60 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Tripoli.

Turkish and U.S. officials Thursday began their first "operational planning" meeting aimed at bringing about the end of Syrian President Bashar Assad's embattled regime.

The meeting is expected to coordinate military, intelligence and political responses to the crisis in Syria where a deadly crackdown on peaceful protests that began in March 2011 has according to activists claimed more than 23,000 lives.

Hundreds of suspected Salafist militants attacked the central Tunisia district of Sidi Bouzid overnight, wounding at least seven people, witnesses and a police source said Thursday.

Witnesses told Agence France Presse the assailants came by cars and the police did not intervene to stop the clashes.

As the passengers from battle-ravaged Aleppo disembarked at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport, tearful relatives gripped them tightly in emotional embraces.

"Thank God you've arrived safe and sound!" one cried out.

Israel's foreign ministry on Thursday summoned South Africa's envoy to formally protest Pretoria's decision to place "Occupied Palestinian Territory" labels on goods from Jewish settlements.

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said ambassador Ismail Coovadia was summoned to the ministry in Jerusalem where "we made a formal protest and discussed the issue in depth."

Syria is ready to cooperate with new U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, adding he hoped the veteran Algerian diplomat would help pave the way for "national dialogue".

"We have informed the United Nations that we accept the appointment of Mr. Brahimi," Faisal Muqdad told reporters in Damascus.

With the thud of heavy machine guns, the whipping sound of sniper rounds and the smell of cordite filling the midnight darkness, the rebels almost didn't notice her veiled figure turning the corner.

They dragged her behind the thick limestone wall of a centuries-old house in Jdeideh, one of the most recent frontlines in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, and asked her for identification.

Syrian military planes crossed into Iraqi airspace on Thursday in order to carry out air strikes against the border town of al-Bukamal, which is held by rebel forces, Iraqi officials said.

"Syrian combat aircraft crossed into Iraqi airspace at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) for about 15 minutes, and targeted al-Bukamal in Syrian territory," a lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi border guards said, speaking on condition of anonymity.