Canada's public broadcaster identified on Wednesday a third Canadian linked to a pair of former schoolmates implicated in an attack on a desert gas plant in Algeria in January.

Aaron Yoon, 24, reportedly flew to North Africa with the others, but wound up in jail before the attack that left at least 67 dead.

A Tunisian Salafist who fought in Syria was arrested on Wednesday after defending jihad, or Islamic holy war, in a television broadcast, a justice ministry source said.

Abou Zeid Ettounsi was detained under an arrest warrant issued by the public prosecutor after appearing on a private Tunisian TV channel, which questioned him about Tunisians taking part in the Syrian conflict, the source added.

French President Francois Hollande arrived in Morocco on Wednesday fresh from battling an explosive tax fraud scandal that risks overshadowing his landmark two-day visit to the former colony.

Hollande, who was welcomed by King Mohammed VI at Casablanca airport, has sought to limit the fallout from the scandal and insisted before leaving Paris that ex-budget minister Jerome Cahuzac who was charged in a tax fraud probe "did not benefit from any protection."

Syria's air force staged new strikes Wednesday on several rebel-held areas across the country, including Raqa in the north, Homs in the center and Damascus province, a monitoring group said.

"New air raids struck the city of Raqa," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, three weeks after rebels seized total control of the provincial capital.

The United Nations is to provide financial support to thousands of Gaza families affected by last year's conflict with Israel thanks to a Saudi donation of nearly $16 million, it said on Wednesday.

"Over 7,000 refugee families in Gaza will receive financial support from UNRWA to repair and reconstruct homes damaged during the November conflict," the Palestinian refugee agency said in a statement.

A Syrian regime newspaper on Wednesday slammed militant Palestinian movement Hamas and its leader Khaled Meshaal for breaking with Damascus, accusing them of giving up on resistance against Israel.

The report comes two days after Meshaal's re-election as head of Hamas's politburo for another four-year term.

Egyptian prosecutors on Wednesday questioned a stand-up comedian on blasphemy charges following a guest appearance on the show of popular satirist Bassem Youssef, himself the subject of an investigation.

Ali Kandil is accused of insulting Islam during a segment on Youssef's show Elbernameg in February, in which he poked fun at the discourse and style of some Muslim clerics -- bringing to television screens what is already widely said in Egyptian homes.

Kuwait parliament on Wednesday passed a bill requiring the government to buy 744 million dinars ($2.6 billion) in private bank loans owed by citizens and reschedule repayment after waiving interest.

Fifty members, including all 13 cabinet ministers present, voted for the bill that according to some MPs would cost state coffers between $1.0 billion and $2.5 billion over a 15-year period.

Syria's Muslim Brotherhood may be President Bashar Assad's best-organized political adversaries, but they are also loathed by some dissidents who accuse them of trying to dominate the opposition, backed by funds from Qatar.

The accusations date back to the start of uprising against Assad, but came to a head on March 19 after the election of rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto, with some activists saying his selection was "pushed" by the Brotherhood.

France has not decided whether to support the lifting of an EU arms embargo on Syria, its foreign minister said Wednesday, in a u-turn from its previous stance favoring the supply of weapons to the war-torn country's rebels.

"We have to give a response end of May. Until then, I can't tell you yes or no," Laurent Fabius said on BFM-TV, after being asked what position Paris would take over the renewal of the near two-year-old embargo.