Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised on Saturday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations where he demanded that Palestine be admitted as a full member state at the international organization.

He said in a statement: “The speech revealed Israel’s hostile plans and its hidden intentions to reject all efforts to achieve peace.”

At least nine deaths were reported in Syria on Friday, a traditional day for protests, as the EU and Switzerland both said they were widening sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement that nine civilians were shot dead by security forces in the Homs area in the center of the country.

A Turkish seismic ship set sail Friday for gas exploration off Cyprus, live television footage showed.

The ship "Piri Reis" departed from a local port in the Aegean province of Izmir, in an apparent response to a move by Greek Cypriots to press ahead with offshore gas drilling in the eastern Mediterranean.

The prevention of conflicts requires the implementation of the binding resolutions issued by the U.N. Security Council, President Michel Suleiman said Thursday in New York, as Lebanon assumed the rotating presidency of the Security Council.

Addressing the council in his capacity as its rotating chairman, Suleiman said “the issuance of Resolution 1701 by the Security Council was a necessary measure in order to stop the devastative war, and the Security Council should halt Israel’s threats and violations and force its withdrawal” from the occupied Lebanese territories.

Around 1,000 Palestinians gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday to protest against U.S. President Barack Obama's speech to the United Nations.

The protesters carried signs deriding the United States and Obama for his address, in which he reiterated his opposition to the Palestinians' attempt to win U.N. membership for their state, saying there was no "shortcut" to peace.

Palestinians on Thursday slammed U.S. President Barack Obama's address to the U.N. General Assembly, calling it a display of U.S. bias towards Israel.

Commentators, politicians and ordinary Palestinians alike said Obama's speech on Wednesday, just days before the Palestinians apply to become a U.N. member state, showed Washington was incapable of serving as a fair broker between Israel and the Palestinians.

Syria said on Thursday that "terrorists" had killed five security force members and wounded 17 in the restive area of Daraa while pro-democracy activists said three civilians were killed in Homs, another hub of protest against President Bashar al-Assad.

Activists also said the authorities had blocked mobile phone signals and the internet in parts of Damascus province, at Saqba, Jisrin, Kafar Batna, Hamurieh and Ain Tarma.

The Palestinians are prepared to give the U.N. Security Council time to consider their bid for U.N. membership for a Palestinian state, a top Palestinian official said Wednesday.

President Mahmoud Abbas will give "some time to the Security Council to consider first our full membership request before heading to the General Assembly," Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath told reporters.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday stressed Lebanon’s commitment to international legitimacy and the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which was established in 2007 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1757 to try those responsible for the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

Speaking at the opening of the annual U.N. General Assembly summit of world leaders, Suleiman said: “According to its constitution, Lebanon is a democratic, parliamentary republic built upon freedom of expression and belief and its people is the source of authority.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Wednesday on the United Nations to admit Palestine as a non-member state, upgrading its status as simple observer but opposing a Palestinian bid for full membership.

In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Sarkozy also called for "one year to reach a definitive agreement" between Israel and the Palestinians, saying the usual U.S.-led peace process should not bypass European, Arab or other countries.