The United States is stepping up contacts inside and outside Syria with Syrians who are seeking political change, a State Department spokeswoman said Thursday.

The move appeared to mark a toughening in the administration's stance toward Damascus as it escalates an internal crackdown on dissent with military sweeps on towns near the Turkish border.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to travel to Rome on Sunday to take part in church activity and a synod held at the Vatican under Pope Benedict XVI.

The Patriarch is expected to meet the Pope to discuss various church issues, as well as the latest developments in Lebanon and Syria.

Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahhab voiced on Thursday his opposition to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that a Lebanese government that abides by international resolutions will fail.

He said during a lecture in Damascus: “Any government that commits to rejecting the violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and dignity will succeed.”

Russia and China oppose outside interference in the unrest in the Arab world, the two presidents said Thursday in a declaration, as the West seeks their support in increasing pressure on Syria.

"The sides believe that the search for settling the situation in the countries of Middle East and North Africa should take place in the legal field and through political means," said the declaration signed by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao.

The United States on Thursday condemned Syria's "outrageous use of violence" in response to a popular uprising, saying it must come to an immediate end.

"The international community has been shocked by the horrific reports of torture and arbitrary arrests, and widespread use of violence against peaceful protesters," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said after nearly 1,300 civilians have been reportedly killed in the regime's bloody crackdown.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Thursday the absence of Arab and international statements of support for the new government.

He said that it was instead met with “complete Arab silence and some skepticism, except from Syria and Iran, who emerged as the victors after the announcement of the government lineup.”

Two Dutch diplomats were briefly kidnapped last month in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa valley and handed over to Syrian authorities across the border before being freed, the Dutch embassy in Beirut said Thursday.

"The two diplomats were stopped at a public road north of Baalbek by local people on May 24," Hans Peter van der Woude, the deputy head of mission at the Dutch embassy, told Agence France Presse.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is expected to kick off a regional tour that would include Syria, Saudi Arabia and Turkey after his new cabinet receives parliament’s vote of confidence.

As Safir daily said Monday that Damascus would be Miqati’s first stop. The premier might also visit France, it said.

Syrian authorities on Wednesday showed journalists a "new mass grave," containing at least five corpses, buried near the flashpoint northern town of Jisr al-Shughour.

The remains, which lay under a pile of rubbish, had been placed in yellow and orange body bags, an Agence France Presse reporter, who was taken to the site by government minders alongside 20 other journalists, witnessed.

A Dutch diplomat was kidnapped in Lebanon some ten days ago in a development that has raised European fears of the return of the abduction of foreigners in Lebanon that was prevalent during the civil war years.

A European diplomatic source told the Central News Agency on Wednesday that the Dutch diplomat, who resides in Damascus, was abducted by tribes from the Baalbek region as he was passing through the area.