Confrontation between Washington and Tehran over the US killing of a top general and turmoil in Libya are set to dominate talks in Moscow on Saturday between the leaders of Russia and Germany.

Russia's Vladimir Putin will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow on Saturday afternoon -- her first visit since May 2018 when the two leaders met at Sochi on the Black Sea.

In parts of the Middle East, Qasem Soleimani is revered as a hero. But in opposition-held Syria, the slain Iranian commander was seen as the man to kill.

"We thank God for his assassination," said Ismail al-Asali, who survived a November missile strike on the northern Syrian displacement camp of Qah where he lives.

Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi has asked the United States to send a delegation to Baghdad to begin preparing for a troop pullout, his office said on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the Middle East from Saturday, hoping to ease soaring regional tensions after the US killing of a top Iranian general.

The trip had been thrown into doubt after Tehran responded to the attack on Qasem Soleimani by launching a barrage of missiles at bases hosting American troops in Iraq, prompting fears of an all-out war.

The UN Security Council is set to vote Friday on extending cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria, according to diplomats, with Russia pushing for aid reduction and setting up a showdown with the West.

The authorization for the aid, which enters the country without the formal permission of the regime in Damascus, has been in place since 2014 and is set to expire Friday. 

An air strike in eastern Syria killed eight fighters of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force overnight, a war monitor said on Friday.

Israel has announced the release of two prisoners -- one of whom was convicted of spying for Syria -- as part of a swap deal brokered by Russia.

Eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar late Thursday rejected calls for a ceasefire by Turkey and Russia and announced a continuation of his military operations against a U.N.-recognized government.

Ethiopia and Egypt failed to resolve a long-running dispute over a massive dam being built on the Blue Nile River during the latest round of talks this week.

Saudi Arabia condemned Thursday "Iranian violations of Iraqi sovereignty" after Iran fired missiles at Iraq bases where U.S. troops are deployed in retaliation for the killing of a top commander.