Hizbullah, Israel, Iran, and Turkey are all gearing up for an escalation in the developments in the region over the crisis in Syria, a diplomat told the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily in remarks published on Sunday.

He said Hizbullah is preparing for the confrontation by removing its rockets from its hideouts, noting that last week’s Siddiqin explosion took place when the party hastily set up the rockets.

The British Foreign Ministry is studying the possibility of calling on its nationals and those from the Commonwealth states to evacuate Lebanon in light of western reports from Lebanon, Syria, Israel, and Jordan that said that Lebanon and Syria are on the verge of an escalation, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah on Sunday.

A British diplomat told the daily that other countries may follow Britain’s example, predicting that the evacuations may take place within a week or two.

The United Nations said Friday that international help is needed to feed 1.5 million people in crisis-torn Syria, but humanitarian corridors were not yet justified.

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said almost three million people out of Syria's population of about 20.5 million had been affected by the deadly crackdown on protests launched by President Bashar Assad since March.

A new Arab League ultimatum which gives Syria until later Friday to agree to accept observers or face sanctions represents a last chance for the regime in Damascus, Turkey's foreign minister said.

"It is a last chance, a new chance for Syria," Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters in Istanbul in the final hours before the 11:00 GMT deadline.

French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero on Thursday denied a media report claiming that French intelligence operatives had arrived to the borders of Lebanon and Turkey to train members of the rebel Free Syrian Army, dismissing the report as “baseless.”

“You know that the (French) magazine Le Canard enchainé, (which published the report Wednesday), is a satirical weekly. This report is inaccurate and baseless,” Valero said in an interview with Lebanon’s OTV.

France renewed its support for humanitarian corridors in Syria on Thursday but said such a move would have to either be agreed by Damascus or come under an international mandate.

Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Wednesday that France would ask its EU partners to consider the idea of setting up protected escape routes for Syrian civilians fleeing the regime of Bashar Assad.

Fitch ratings agency said Wednesday that it was cutting the outlook on Turkey from 'positive' to 'stable' given a recent increase in risks and affirmed the country's rating at BB+.

"The revision of the Outlook to Stable reflects an increase in near-term risks to macroeconomic stability," said Ed Parker, managing director in the EMEA Sovereign group at Fitch.

Turkey has bombed the Sulaimaniyah and Arbil provinces of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, wounding one civilian, Kurdish officials said on Wednesday.

"The Turkish aerial bombardment was renewed on Tuesday night and the civilian Ismail Baz Hamed, 20, was wounded during this bombing," said Hassan Abdullah, the mayor of the Qalat Dizah area in Sulaimaniyah.

Turkey has bombed the Sulaimaniyah and Arbil provinces of Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region, wounding one civilian, Kurdish officials said on Wednesday.

"The Turkish aerial bombardment was renewed on Tuesday night and the civilian Ismail Baz Hamed, 20, was wounded during this bombing," said Hassan Abdullah, the mayor of the Qalat Dizah area in Sulaimaniyah.

Police have detained 15 people suspected of having ties to the al-Qaida extremist network in central Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported on Tuesday.

The suspects were arrested in simultaneous raids at several addresses in central Anatolian province of Konya, Anatolia said.