Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Thursday as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying he did so with great regret but must focus entirely on clearing his name of sexual assault charges.

"I want to protect this institution which I have served with honor and devotion, and especially -- especially -- I want to devote all my strength, all my time, and all my energy to proving my innocence," he said.

The United States and the European Union warned Tuesday that they will within days take further punitive steps against Syria over its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests, as France said the U.N. Security Council is close to achieving a majority for a resolution to condemn the repression.

The warning came as diplomats in Brussels told Agence France Presse that EU ambassadors were due to decide Tuesday whether to add President Bashar al-Assad's name to a list of Syrian officials targeted by a travel ban and assets freeze.

Syria's opposition called for a general strike Wednesday in defiance of a government campaign to crush pro-democracy protests, as the army pressed its siege of the restive town of Tall Kalakh, the latest target of its violent crackdown.

"Wednesday will be a day of general strike in Syria," said a statement posted on the Facebook page of the Syrian Revolution 2011, an Internet-based opposition group that has been a motor of protests that erupted two months ago.

The White House said Monday it regretted the loss of life on the Lebanese-Israeli border and urged "maximum restraint" among all parties but said the U.S. ally has the right to thwart unauthorized crossings.

"We regret the loss of life and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those killed and wounded," spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard President Barack Obama's official Air Force One airplane.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare has reached new leads in his investigation that accuses Syrian officials of involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination, sources in The Hague told Naharnet.

They said Bellemare put his new information in the amended indictment that he filed to pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen last week.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has stressed on France’s commitment to Lebanese independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We await and support a government that responds to the demands of the Lebanese people, according to the Taef accord and does not refute international agreements,” Juppe said on Tuesday after holding talks with head of al-Mustaqbal Movement bloc leader Fouad Saniora in the presence of Lebanon's ambassador to Paris Boutros Assaker.

French police captured seven suspected Islamist militants in raids in Paris and its suburbs, officials said Tuesday, as France tightened security in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden.

Six suspects were detained on Monday but the main target of the operation, an Indian national who recently arrived from Algeria, was taken on Tuesday, according to officials close to the inquiry.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant has said that Paris should congratulate itself for helping Lebanon and Syria establish diplomatic relations.

In an interview published by As Safir daily on Monday, Gueant said: “You know that France is attached to Lebanon for historical reasons. Talks (by France) with Damascus helped the formation of a Lebanese government and the election of a president.”

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that France wants the new Palestinian government to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

"What I heard from President Sarkozy is that they must recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people," Netanyahu said outside the Elysee Palace in Paris, after a meeting he described as "good, far-ranging and friendly".

France urged its citizens living in or visiting Syria to leave Wednesday and warned others to cancel any plans to visit during the current political crisis, the foreign ministry said.

"While foreign citizens are not so far directly threatened, the French authorities renew their advice to delay all plans to travel to Syria," the ministry said in advice to travelers on its website.