The United Arab Emirates recalled its envoy to Tehran on Thursday, state news agency WAM reported, after having protested over a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island.

"The foreign ministry has recalled its ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saif Mohammed Abid al-Zaabi, for consultations," it said.

Syria's government on Thursday offered an amnesty to opposition gunmen without "blood on their hands," urging them to surrender as a U.N.-backed ceasefire entered into force.

"The interior ministry calls on gunmen whose hands have not been stained with Syrian blood to hand themselves in, along with their weapons, at the nearest police center. They would be released and all legal procedures against them would be terminated," it said, quoted by state television.

A battle between Al-Qaida militants and armed civilians for control of the town of Loder spread on Thursday to nearby Mudia, as the death toll from four days of clashes reached 177, local sources said.

The armed men attacked a vehicle outside Mudia carrying Al-Qaida militants from nearby Shabwa province to Loder, the scene of fighting between Islamists and the army backed by armed civilians, the sources told Agence France Presse.

Kuwait's parliament on Thursday provisionally passed amendments to the Gulf state's penal code stipulating the death penalty for those who curse God, Islam's Prophet Mohammed or his wives.

Forty-six MPs, including cabinet ministers, voted for the key amendments that will come into effect only after another round of voting and government approval. The second and final vote will take place in two weeks.

Russia called for more time on Thursday for international envoy Kofi Annan's Syrian peace plan to work, as a ceasefire to end months of violence came into force with no major reports of violations.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said some Arab and Western states had written off Annan's peace plan as a failure even before it had gone into effect and called on them to use their influence with the rebels to avoid future unrest.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan slammed a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a disputed island, state news agency WAM said.

"Sheikh Abdullah blasted the visit as a 'flagrant violation' of UAE sovereignty over its territories and a setback to all efforts and attempts the UAE is making to find a peaceful settlement to Iran's occupation of the three UAE islands," WAM reported late on Wednesday.

The head of the opposition Syrian National Council on Thursday urged people to demonstrate against President Bashar Assad's regime, in a test of a ceasefire that entered in to force at dawn.

Burhan Ghalioun, who leads the exile umbrella opposition organization, also urged the international community to provide protection to Syrians who take to the streets by sending observers.

Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail looks set to rejoin the presidential race after a court ruled on Wednesday that his mother was not a U.S. citizen, the official MENA news agency reported.

Under the country's electoral law, all candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives must have only Egyptian citizenship.

NATO said Thursday it takes its responsibility to defend allies "extremely seriously" after member state Turkey said it may seek help after shootings along its border with Syria.

"We are deeply concerned by events in Syria, particularly the recent incidents on the border with our ally Turkey," NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero told Agence France Presse.

British Prime Minister David Cameron urged Russia and China on Thursday to join the international community and help "tighten the noose" on the Syrian regime over its deadly crackdown on protests.

A U.N.-backed ceasefire to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria appeared to be holding after coming into force at daybreak, but doubts remained about the compliance of President Bashar Assad's government with the peace plan.