Afghan Haqqani faction would consider talks under Taliban

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Haqqani network, seen as the most lethal insurgent faction in Afghanistan, would take part in peace talks with the United States but only under the direction of their Afghan Taliban leaders, a top faction commander said on Tuesday.

The rare flexibility exhibited by an Afghan militant commander was accompanied by a warning that the Haqqanis would keep up pressure on Western forces with high-profile attacks and would pursue their goal of establishing an Islamic state.

The Haqqanis, who operate out of the unruly border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, say they are part of the Afghan Taliban and must act in unison in any peace process.

The commander, who declined to be identified, accused the United States of being insincere in peace efforts and trying to divide the two organizations.

"However, if the central shura, headed by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, decided to hold talks with the United States, we would welcome it," he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed, referring to the militants' leadership council.

The Taliban said in March they were suspending nascent peace talks with the United States.

A senior Afghan official closely involved with reconciliation efforts said last week the government had failed to secure direct talks with the Taliban and no significant progress was expected before 2014.

The United States designated the Haqqani network a terrorist organization in September, a move its commanders said proved Washington was not sincere about peace efforts in Afghanistan.

Last week, the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on the Haqqanis.

Isolating the group, who were blamed for the 18-hour attack on embassies and parliament in Kabul in April, could complicate efforts to secure peace at a time when Afghans fear another civil war could erupt after Western forces withdraw.

"CLOSE TO VICTORY"

The Haqqani network may prove to be President Barack Obama's biggest security challenge as he tries to stabilize Afghanistan before most NATO combat troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014.

The group's experience in guerrilla fighting dating back to the anti-Soviet war in the 1980s and its substantial financial network, could make it the ultimate spoiler of peace efforts.

A report in July by the Center for Combating Terrorism said the Haqqanis ran a sophisticated financial network, raising money through kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking but also have a legitimate business portfolio that includes import/export, transport, real estate and construction interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Gulf.

The commander said the Haqqani network was pleased about Obama's re-election, predicting he would be demoralized by battlefield losses and pull out U.S. forces earlier than expected.

"From what we see on the ground, Obama would not wait for 2014 to call back his forces," said the commander.

"They suffered heavy human and financial losses and are not in a position to suffer more."

The commander said he and his men were looking ahead to victory.

"We will install a purely a Islamic government, which would be acceptable to all the people," he said.

"We are present everywhere in Afghanistan now and can carry out attacks when and wherever we want. We are very close to our victory."

(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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UK submariner tried to pass secrets to Russia -court

LONDON (Reuters) - A British Royal Navy submariner admitted in court on Tuesday that he met two men he thought were Russian agents to pass on military secrets, including the sailing dates of British nuclear submarines.

Petty officer Edward Devenney, 30, from Northern Ireland, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to a charge of misconduct in public office, relating to the alleged theft of passwords and computer programs used to encrypt secret information.

He also admitted collecting information with a purpose prejudicial to the interests of the state.

His denial of another charge of communicating such information was accepted by the prosecution.

Devenney was arrested in the southwestern port of Plymouth in March.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on December 12 when parts of the hearing will be held in secret.

(Reporting by Peter Schwartzstein; editing by Steve Addison)

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Iran unveils new missile systems on second day of drills

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran unveiled new missile and artillery systems on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, on the second day of large-scale military exercises which officials said were aimed at sending a warning to those threatening the Islamic Republic.

Played out against a backdrop of high tension between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear program, the "Velayat 4" man oeuvres across a vast swathe of the eastern half of the country have focused on air defenses.

Israel has threatened to strike Iran's nuclear sites if diplomacy and Western sanctions fail to stop the country's atomic program, which the United States and its allies believe is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

The three domestically-built missile and artillery systems would be a significant boost to Iran's military defenses, said Farzad Esmaili, head of Iran's air defense headquarters.

"The low-altitude missile system 'Ya Zahra 3' is completely indigenous and Iranian and has been designed and produced to suit internal needs," Esmaili was quoted as saying by the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA).

He said the second missile system named 'Qader' was highly mobile and could be deployed in less than 30 minutes, while a new artillery system named 'Safat' could escape detection by enemy surveillance.

"Today and tomorrow, the most significant firing of missiles in the ... exercises will take place," Esmaili said, according to state television.

Western experts say Iran often exaggerates its weapons capabilities, although there are concerns about its longer-range missiles.

The military drills come less than a week after the U.S. Pentagon said Iranian planes opened fire on an unarmed U.S. drone over international waters on November 1.

Iran said it had repelled "an enemy's unmanned aircraft" violating its airspace.

MISSILE TESTS

Iranian officials have threatened to strike U.S. military bases in the region and target Israel if its nuclear sites are attacked.

In August, it said it test-fired a short-range missile called the Fateh-110, which it said was capable of striking land and sea targets at a range of around 300 km (180 miles).

In July, Iran said it had successfully test-fired medium-range missiles capable of hitting Israel, and tested dozens of missiles aimed at simulated air bases.

Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank, said he could not assess Iran's latest claims, but said in the past the Iranian military has modified and upgraded weapons procured from abroad and said they were Iranian-made.

"Iran has a history of unsubstantiated boasts about its weapons and indigenous capabilities," Elleman wrote in an e-mail to Reuters on Tuesday. "Iran, while increasingly capable in the field of engineering and program management, is years away from creating new air defense systems on its own."

The missiles that receive the most attention in the West are those with longer ranges, including the Shahab-3, with a reach of 1,300 km (800 miles), as they may be capable of carrying a nuclear payload, if Iran was able to make a small enough bomb. Iran denies it is pursuing nuclear weapons.

The IISS said in a report this year there was mounting evidence that the tightening of sanctions on Iran "has stymied efforts to develop and produce the long-range ballistic missiles capable of striking potential targets in western Europe and beyond."

(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna, editing by Rosalind Russell)

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Former UK bishop held in child sex abuse inquiry

LONDON (Reuters) - A former Church of England bishop was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of sexually assaulting boys as young as 12, police said, the latest public figure to be accused after weeks of child abuse claims that have engulfed the BBC and celebrities.

Separate police investigations into the late television presenter Jimmy Savile have fuelled a national abuse scandal that has dominated public debate and provoked a bout of national soul searching.

Police said Peter Ball, 80, was held in western England on suspicion of sex offences against eight boys and young men, aged from 12 to their early 20s, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was a bishop in Lewes, southern England, and Gloucester, in the southwest.

A woman who answered the telephone at his house in Somerset, southwest England, declined to comment on the arrest.

Ball was arrested at his home after the Church of England passed information from internal reviews to detectives investigating historic sexual offences.

A second man, a retired Anglican priest aged 67, was detained in Sussex, southern England, on suspicion of separate offences against two teenage boys in 1981 and 1983, police said.

Detective Chief Inspector Carwyn Hughes, of Sussex Police, said it was a "very complex inquiry".

"Allegations of historic offences are treated just as seriously as any more recent offences," he said.

The church has tightened measures to prevent child abuse after criticism that for years it was slow to respond to allegations and even covered up offences or moved suspected pedophiles to protect its reputation.

"The Church of England takes any allegations of abuse very seriously and is committed to being a safe place for all," said the Right Reverend Paul Butler, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, chairman of a church group set up to protect children.

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths)

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South Africa police arrest 37 for violence near Xstrata mine

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African police arrested 37 workers for public violence on Tuesday after firing rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters who barricaded a road leading to the Kroondal chrome mine operated by Xstrata.

"The miners threw stones at the passing vehicles and burnt tires. Police were dispatched to the area to control the unruly protesters," the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Xstrata dismissed 400 workers at the mine over a week ago for taking part in an illegal strike.

It was the second consecutive day of clashes around the Kroondal mine near the platinum belt's hub city of Rustenburg, about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

The shanty-towns that ring Rustenburg have been the scene of frequent riots this year as a wave of illegal and often violent strikes have swept the platinum and gold sectors.

World no. 1 platinum producer Anglo American Platinum was still battling to prod around 30,000 workers back to their posts who are on illegal strikes at several of its South African mines, including its Rustenburg operations.

Wednesday is the deadline for the strikers to accept Amplats' latest offer or face being sacked - a scenario that could stoke further violence.

South African labor law requires clear and formal processes for strikes and walk-outs. Those that do not go through all the proper hoops are considered illegal, and can result in striking workers being sacked.

(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Jon Herskovitz)

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Lawyers to wrap up Afghan rampage hearing for U.S. soldier

(Reuters) - A preliminary hearing for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a massacre this year, was to enter its final stage on Tuesday with lawyers' closing statements.

Army prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to wrap up their arguments in the case against Bales, 39, a father of two from Lake Tapp, Washington, who could face the death penalty.

The hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state was meant to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a court-martial. Ultimately, an investigating officer will decide whether to recommend a court-martial, although a final determination will be made by Bales' brigade.

Military prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Bales, accusing him of killing 16 people, mostly women and children, in two villages when he ventured out of his remote camp on two forays over a five-hour period in March.

Bales, a veteran of four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, faces 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of assault and wrongfully possessing and using steroids and alcohol while deployed.

The shootings in Afghanistan's Kandahar province marked the worst case of civilian slaughter blamed on an individual U.S. soldier since the Vietnam War and damaged already strained U.S.-Afghan relations.

Bales' lead defense attorney, John Henry Browne, has suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder or a concussion, combined with steroids and alcohol, may have played a part in the events of March 11.

In testimony that could undercut a defense that Bales was impaired, First Sergeant Vernon Bigham said over the weekend that Bales had undergone surgery for sleep apnea but did not complain of PTSD, traumatic brain injury or headaches.

Bigham, Bales' company supervisor, described the decorated serviceman as a capable sergeant "doing an outstanding job." He testified via video-link from Afghanistan's Kandahar Air Field.

Earlier in the hearing, witnesses testified that Bales had been upset by the lack of action over an attack on a patrol several days before the shootings in which one soldier had the lower part of a leg blown off by a bomb.

(Writing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Xavier Briand)

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Russia paroles scientist jailed under Putin for spying

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court on Tuesday paroled a physicist convicted in 2004 of spying for China, a case rights activists said was an example of Vladimir Putin's use of the courts against opponents.

Rights campaigners welcomed the three-year reduction of Valentin Danilov's 14-year sentence but said it did not signal the president would halt what they say is the Kremlin's practice of using the judiciary to stifle dissent.

In his 60s, Danilov is expected to be freed in 10 days. He watched the hearing from his prison in Siberia's Krasnoyarsk region by videolink.

"I think he was quite shocked when he heard the opinion of the prosecutor who...supported the appeal (for early release)," his lawyer Yelena Yevmenova said on NTV television.

He and other scientists had said the satellite technology data he passed to China more than a decade ago was declassified and that the case was politically motivated.

The Kremlin has denied influencing the courts and says it is wrong to describe the treatment of Putin's opponents as a clampdown on dissent.

The hearing had been postponed several times because of ill-health, state-run channel Rossiya said. Bespectacled with graying hair, he looked frail but alert in televised archive footage taken between 2001 and 2004.

He will be freed unless the ruling is challenged but will remain on parole for the rest of his term.

"Danilov has already served two-thirds of this term, behaved well," said Maria Fomushina, spokesman for the court. "The decision also took into account his health condition."

She gave no details of his health, nor did his lawyer.

Danilov, who was first arrested in 2001, was a researcher at Krasnoyarsk State University. He admitted selling information about satellite technology to a Chinese company but said the information had already been available from public sources.

An initial decision to acquit him was overturned and he was sentenced in a second trial.

Danilov's case was one of several during Putin's first spell as president from 2000 until 2008 that were seen by opponents as an attempt to intimidate academics with ties to other countries. Putin started a third term in May.

His opponents cite the jailing of two members of the all-women punk protest band Pussy Riot in August as evidence that the Kremlin is still exploiting the lack of independence of the judiciary to smother dissent.

NO PRECEDENT SET

Jailed Putin critics also include Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the YUKOS oil company and once Russia's richest man, who is still in prison after being arrested in 2003 and convicted of fraud, tax evasion, theft and money laundering.

An aide to Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev, had his 13-year sentence on the same charges reduced by three years last month but rights activists said they did not see his or Danilov's case as setting a precedent.

"It's great that Danilov will be paroled. But looking for signs of change in the general course of affairs in single events is simply wrong after half-a-year of (Putin) pursuing repressive measures," said Alexander Cherkasov, head of the human rights group Memorial.

"It's just that so many areas of public life have been spoilt - and people are used to looking for hidden meaning in everything - that they cannot believe it now that law was simply and properly enacted on just one square meter."

Pavel Chikov, head of human rights group Agora, said Lebedev and Danilov would not have been freed if they were still regarded by the Kremlin as a political threat.

"If they are letting Danilov, or Lebedev for that matter, go, that only means the authorities are no longer afraid of them," he said.

Kremlin has been criticized abroad over the sentences handed down on Pussy Riot members who burst into Moscow's main Russian Orthodox cathedral in February and performed a profane anti-Putin "punk prayer".

Opposition activists say the sentence was harsh, although many Russians opposed the Pussy Riot protest, and that the Kremlin used the case as a warning to other critics.

Since May, the Russian parliament has rushed through laws which Putin's foes say are designed to quell criticism and several opposition leaders have been charged over their role in protests and could be jailed.

Responding to the criticism, the former KGB spy, now 60, offered some flexibility on Monday over the laws that have alarmed rights groups but rights activists said they were not clear what, if any, concessions he might make.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage and Anna Willard)

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Israel, Palestinians put lid on Gaza, for now

TEL AVIV/GAZA (Reuters) - Israel and the Palestinians stepped back from the brink of a new war in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, sending signals to each other via Egypt that they would hold their fire unless attacked, after five days of mounting violence.

The tacit truce arrested an escalation to all-out fighting, but both sides remain armed and primed for another round in the unresolved conflict that has festered since Hamas Islamist militants took over the enclave in 2007.

Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Gaza's Hamas government, praised the main armed factions in the enclave for agreeing on Monday night to a truce.

"They showed a high sense of responsibility by saying they would respect calm should the Israeli occupation also abide by it," he said.

Haniyeh spoke during an unannounced visit to a hospital to see wounded Palestinians. Some Israeli leaders say it is time to resume the controversial tactic of assassinating Hamas leaders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consulted his inner circle of ministers in Jerusalem. One of them, Benny Begin, said the flare-up had subsided but the conflict was far from resolved.

"This round of firing appears to have ended and things must be looked at soberly without illusions for both sides," he said.

Netanyahu promised Israelis security.

"Whoever thinks they can harm the routine lives of southern residents without paying a very heavy price is mistaken," the prime minister said in a radio speech. "And I am responsible for us exacting this price at the most proper time."

"TIME TO ACT"

Three Palestinian fighters and four civilians have been killed by Israeli fire since Saturday, and 40 others wounded. Eight Israeli civilians were injured by some of the 115 rockets fired from Gaza and four soldiers were wounded by the anti-tank missile that hit their jeep and fuelled the fighting.

An official involved in the Egyptian mediation confirmed both sides were ready to stop.

"The message was clear and Israel too told Egypt they were not interested in escalation if rocket firing stopped. The situation now is calm for calm and I hope it does not deteriorate," the official told Reuters

Israel struck three targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday, including what the army said was a weapons depot and two rocket launch sites. There were no casualties.

Only one Palestinian rocket strike was reported in Israel by 10.00 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Tuesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told reporters Israel was not prepared to forgive and forget following four days of violence.

"The matter has definitely not ended and we will decide how and when to act at the time when there will be a need," he said.

Israel has shown little appetite for a new Gaza war, which could strain relations with the new Islamist-rooted government in neighboring Egypt. The countries made peace in 1979.

But Netanyahu will be reluctant to seem weak ahead of a January 22 election that opinion polls currently predict he will win.

"SAFETY NET"

Hamas is emboldened by the rise to power in Egypt of its spiritual mentors in the Muslim Brotherhood whom it views as a "safety net" that would stop an all-out Israeli onslaught.

The Palestinian Islamist movement believes it now presents a challenge that Israel's military superiority cannot easily best.

"This assault and other assaults by the occupation will not break the will of the Palestinian people and their steadfastness in the face of barbaric Israeli attacks," Haniyeh said.

Israel invaded Gaza in their last war in January 2009 in which 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed. International critics said Israel used "disproportionate force".

Strategists say there is no obvious military solution to the conflict, barring re-occupation of a territory Israel held from 1967 to the unilateral withdrawal of 2005. And re-occupation would be a security nightmare.

Hamas, ruling 1.7 million Gazans, does not recognize Israel and pledged to win all of Israeli territory by force for the Palestinians. Its stand is in stark contrast to the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, which recognizes Israel and is ready to make permanent peace in return for a state.

The gulf between them poses a seemingly insoluble obstacle to the goal of a peace treaty establishing a Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza with East Jerusalem as its capital.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Giles Elgood)

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EU drops planned board gender quota for softer pressure

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has dropped a plan to force firms to give 40 percent of non-executive board positions to women in favor of a less drastic obligation to favor female candidates where they are equally qualified, an EU source said on Tuesday.

The quota proposal had run into opposition from a number of countries, led by Britain, and from large firms.

Commission lawyers said it was "problematic" for the European Union to impose strict quotas, though it could instruct companies on how to hit quotas.

The Commission estimates that women currently account for fewer than 15 percent of non-executive board positions in companies with more than 250 staff.

The new proposal would now oblige these companies to favor "the underrepresented sex" from 2016 onward until a share of 40 percent is reached, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Member countries would have the power to determine and impose sanctions on firms that did not obey the rule.

The European commissioners are scheduled to vote on the proposal on Wednesday. If a majority approve it, the plan will then be voted on by the European Parliament and the 27 member countries.

An earlier version of the proposal, announced by the EU executive in September, would have required the companies to have women in at least 40 percent of their non-executive board positions by 2020.

Norway, which is not a member of the bloc, has successfully enforced a 40 percent quota since 2009, although critics say this has been achieved in part thanks to a small number of women holding non-executive positions in multiple companies.

Meanwhile members of the European Parliament are fighting to rescind Yves Mersch's nomination to the European Central Bank's Executive Board because they want a woman to fill the seat, one of six.

APPOINTED FOR THE QUOTA?

Men dominate boardrooms and public posts in the European Union, but many women who have risen through company ranks resent quotas because they give the impression that women have not been promoted on merit.

Among women commissioners, digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands and Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard of Denmark oppose quotas.

But Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, from Luxembourg, launched the proposal, and several male commissioners are in favor, including Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn from Finland and the finance commissioner, Michel Barnier of France.

Britain has been the most outspoken critic of EU-imposed quotas, with Business Secretary Vince Cable arguing that London's current voluntary approach was effective.

The British upper house concluded last week that the original Commission proposal would not "address the root causes of inequality". The share of women on the boards of British-listed companies rose to 12.5 percent in 2010 from 7 percent in 1999.

"The UK welcomes the Commission's decision not to impose mandatory quotas for women on boards," a British government spokeswoman said. "We have consistently argued that measures are best considered at national level."

A working draft of the law says that companies must change their hiring policies by 2016, so that they favor a woman over a man with the same qualifications until at least 40 percent of non-executive board members are female.

"The burden of proof is on the companies," the source said.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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New Syrian opposition chief seeks recognition, arms

CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Syria's new opposition coalition urged European states on Tuesday to recognize it as the legitimate government, enabling it to buy the weapons it needs to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Britain and France appeared to set further conditions, notably that it first rally support inside the country, before they grant full recognition to the Syrian National Coalition. And, like the United States, Europeans are still reluctant to arm rebel forces which include anti-Western Islamist militants.

Western caution, and an Arab League endorsement that stopped short of full recognition, indicate that the coalition forged with such difficulty in Qatar two days ago may yet find it hard to win wholehearted support, even from its allies.

Speaking to Reuters by telephone as Arab and European ministers met to discuss Syria at the Arab League in Cairo, Mouaz Alkhatib, the Damascus preacher elected unopposed on Sunday to lead the new group, asked for diplomatic backing.

"I request European states to grant political recognition to the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and to give it financial support," he said.

"When we get political recognition, this will allow the coalition to act as a government and hence acquire weapons and this will solve our problems," Alkhatib added.

France's defense minister and Britain's foreign minister both said that forming the new group under Alkhatib, a moderate noted for his embrace of Syria's religious and ethnic minorities, was an important milestone but not sufficient for full recognition as a government-in-waiting.

So far, concerted action on Syria has been thwarted by divisions within the opposition, as well as by big power rivalries and a regional divide between Sunni Muslim foes of Assad and his Shi'ite allies in Iran and Lebanon.

Russia and China, which have lent Assad diplomatic support since the uprising erupted in March last year, have shown no sign of warming towards his Western- and Arab-backed opponents.

Lebanese analyst Nadim Shehadi said Western conditions were just as great an obstacle to resolving the Syria crisis.

Where once the United States sought to convince Iraqis and Afghans that U.S. military intervention was for their own good, now Syrians seeking democracy and freedom were trying to persuade a reluctant Washington to act, he said.

"The U.S. is playing hard to get," he said. "It's like you have to pass a test to show you are united, have leadership, are not Islamist jihadists ... and the U.S. is still hesitant as though you have to 'deserve' all that before they intervene."

"STEP FORWARD"

Cajoled by Qatar and the United States, the ineffectual Syrian National Council, previously the main opposition body based abroad, agreed to join a wider coalition on Sunday.

But French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the new body still needed to unite armed rebel factions within Syria under its umbrella to earn full recognition.

"What happened in Doha is a step forward," he told reporters in Paris. "It is still not sufficient to constitute a provisional government that can be recognized internationally."

Britain's foreign minister, William Hague, also said the coalition must show it had support within Syria before London would acknowledge it as the rightful government.

"If they have this, yes, we will then recognize them as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people," he told reporters at the Arab-European meeting in Cairo.

The opposition had hoped its new-found unity would clear the way for outside powers to arm the rebels, but Western nations fear such weapons could reach the hands of Islamist militants.

Western concern has also been heightened by documented reports of atrocities by ill-disciplined insurgents.

"Syria's newly created opposition front should send a clear message to opposition fighters that they must adhere to the laws of war and human rights law, and that violators will be held accountable," New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

The French defence minister called for "a unification of military action to avoid haphazard military operations" and also urged rebels to rein in radical Islamist "Salafist elements".

BORDER VIOLENCE

Assad, whose family have ruled Syria for 42 years, has vowed to fight to the death in a conflict that has already killed an estimated 38,000 people and risks sucking in other countries.

His warplanes again struck homes in rebel-held Ras al-Ain. Civilians fled over the border dividing it from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar and thick plumes of smoke billowed upwards.

Syrian jets and artillery hit the town of Albu Kamal on the frontier with Iraq, where rebels have seized some areas, according to the mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim.

Tension also remained high on the Golan Heights, where Israeli gunners have retaliated against stray Syrian mortar fire landing on the occupied plateau in the previous two days.

Twenty months of conflict have created a vast humanitarian crisis, with more than 408,000 Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries and up to four million expected to need aid by early next year, according to the United Nations.

Fighting has also displaced 2.5 million civilians inside Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates.

"If anything, they believe it could be more; this is a very conservative estimate," Melissa Fleming, chief spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Geneva.

"So people are moving, really on the run, hiding," she told a news briefing. "They are difficult to count and access."

In Cairo, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby urged other opposition factions to join what is formally known as the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.

But although six Gulf Arab nations recognized the coalition as Syria's only legitimate representative on Monday, Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon prevented the League from following suit.

Iraq and Lebanon, with influential Shi'ite populations, have generally maintained better relations with Iran and with Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo, Jonathon Burch in Ceylanpinar, Turkey, and John Irish in Paris; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Peter Graff)

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