Syrian forces on Friday raided the rebellious city of Homs and shot dead at least 60 people across the country, activists said, as protesters took to the streets under the slogan "The Right to Self-defense," which refers to their support for the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces shot dead 60 people including five children, three women and three army deserters.

The deadlock on judicial appointments hasn’t been solved yet as President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun continue to hold onto their own candidates for the post of the head of the Higher Judicial Council.

An Nahar daily quoted Suleiman’s visitors as saying on Friday that the appointments should not be in a state of stalemate under any excuse. “Differences of opinion should not prevent the process of necessary appointments in the state.”

Eleven Iranian pilgrims have been kidnapped in unrest-swept Syria, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, calling on Damascus to help secure their release.

"According to our information, 11 Iranian pilgrims travelling by road to Damascus were kidnapped by an unknown group," said ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

Israel's former army chief Gabi Ashkenazi said Thursday that no Sunni-led government will ever go as far with Iran and Hizbullah as Syrian President Bashar Assad did.

During the conference, which was organized by the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv University, the former army chief said that “there were vast and untrue estimates stating that the primary country equipping Hizbullah with weapons is Iran, while the truth was that Syria is equipping Hizbullah.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Thursday the importance of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis, adding that the Arab League deal is the only solution available, reported the Russian news agency Novosti.

“I discussed importance of a political solution according to the Arab League plan”, Jumblat said to LBC television later Thursday night, adding that “ I know that we have entered into violence and counter violence in Syria, But Russia has to condemn the Syrian regime for the violence because it was the initiator.”

President Michel Suleiman voiced on Thursday his optimism with Lebanon’s future, saying that the economy will improve when oil and gas excavation begins.

He said before his visitors: “The regional developments that have been taking place for about a year should motivate us to fortify Lebanon’s democratic system.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea hoped on Thursday that a statement issued by the Syrian National Council would put Lebanese-Syrian relations on the right path and called for U.N. Security Council action if Lebanon comes under attack by Syria.

The Council, which is Syria’s leading opposition movement, said Wednesday that it wants to start a new chapter in the complex and often-troubled relationship with Lebanon.

Syrian security forces killed 49 civilians, including 10 children, in clashes across the country on Thursday, a rights group said.

"The toll for the day has risen to 49 civilians killed by the security forces in several regions of Syria, mostly in Homs," in the centre of the country, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Unknown assailants have set the office of the mayor of al-Sharqiyeh town in Nabatiyeh on fire, burning all the documents and identification records of the town’s residents, the National News Agency reported Thursday.

Mayor Hani Abdul Raouf Shoaib filed a complaint with the Internal Security Forces, which inspected the burned office at the town square and launched an investigation to find the culprits, NNA said.

President Michel Suleiman is exerting efforts to resume the national dialogue between Lebanese foes as he is seeking to convince the parliamentary majority and the opposition to meet, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

Sources close to Suleiman told the daily that he is open to all suggestions and has expressed readiness to hold bilateral talks with various Lebanese leaders on the condition that they become the basis for holding the all-party talks.