Russia on Thursday warned the West against using threats and ultimatums in its approach to Syria's regime as the United Nations prepared a statement on the protracted conflict.

"Russia proceeds from a deep conviction that any steps around Syria should be aimed at facilitating the success of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan's mission," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Jordan has nudged Israeli and Palestinian negotiators back to discussions on the peace process, a government official said on Thursday, adding that the two sides had met in Amman during the night.

"Israeli and Palestinian officials met last night in Amman for discussions," the official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.

More than 1,000 Syrian refugees fled to Turkey in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of people currently staying in Turkey to nearly 21,000, a Turkish official told AFP on Thursday.

"A total of 1,043 Syrians made their way to Turkey in a single day, marking the highest figure in recent times," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Fierce clashes between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters erupted on Thursday in Douma, near the capital Damascus, while violence also raged in other parts of the strife-torn country, monitors said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime troops backed by tanks stormed Douma at dawn amid heavy gunfire and shelling.

A rocket fired from the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula exploded in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat early on Thursday but caused no injuries or damage, a senior police official said.

Public radio said police in Eilat had been put on the highest state of alert following the blast.

Turkey's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador Wednesday over remarks by a top official in Tehran denouncing an international conference on the Syria crisis held in Istanbul.

The move came as Iran said it no longer wanted Turkey to host nuclear talks, and followed comments reportedly made by Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani critical of Ankara for staging the "Friends of Syria" conference.

Fresh fighting erupted in western Libya on Wednesday, killing at least two people near the border with Tunisia, a hospital official said.

"The situation is once again critical," said Shukri al-Arabi, who runs the only hospital of Zuwarah, a coastal town 100 kilometers (120 miles) west of Tripoli.

The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for Egypt's presidency, Khairat el-Shater, has pledged to press for the implementation of sharia (Islamic law) if elected, a Muslim think tank said on Wednesday.

Shater, whose candidacy for the May election sent political shock waves throughout the post-uprising country, said implementing the sharia was "his first and final goal," said the Legal Authority for Rights and Reform after meeting with him on Tuesday.

Fugitive Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, accused of running a death squad, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after a four-day visit to neighboring Qatar, a top Saudi official told Agence France Presse.

"The vice president has arrived in the kingdom and he has met with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Syria security forces killed at least 44 people on Wednesday, amid fierce clashes and fresh military operations, activists said.

Fifteen people were killed in an explosion that destroyed two buildings in the Damascus suburb of Beit Sahem, while 21 people were shot dead in Homs, six in Idlib and two in Hama, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.