Russia and Egypt called for a ceasefire in Syria "as quickly as possible", President Vladimir Putin said Friday, after a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Mohamed Morsi.

"Russia and Egypt support a ceasefire in Syria as soon as possible and the launch of negotiations," between the regime and rebels, the Russian president said following the meeting in the black city resort of Sochi, where the 2014 Winter Olympic Games will be held.

At least 82 people were hurt on Friday in clashes after opposition activists marched on thousands of Islamists rallying outside a central Cairo court demanding judicial reform, an official said.

The fighting erupted near the iconic Tahrir Square, roughly 0.5 kilometers from where the Islamists had staged their rally, with each side throwing stones at the other.

Bahrain's Shiite opposition are set to gather on Friday for mass rallies to highlight pro-reform demands as Formula One Grand Prix practice sessions kicked-off, unaffected by unrest away from the circuit.

Meanwhile, the world motorsport's governing body the FIA and promoters Formula One Management said the race should take place on Sunday, despite the demonstrations.

More than 3,000 people marched in Amman on Friday, rallied by the Islamist opposition, to demand political reform and an end to corruption, Agence France Presse reported.

The peaceful demonstration, under the slogan: "Stop joking around," began at the Husseini Mosque in center of the capital.

Leaders of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas met in Qatar on Friday amid renewed impetus for a unity government after the resignation of prime minister Salam Fayyad, a Palestinian official told Agence France Presse.

Newly re-elected Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal chaired the meeting in his base in exile in Qatar, which was also attended by Hamas leaders from Gaza including its prime minister Ismail Haniya.

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay on Friday slammed a new wave of executions in Iraq, saying the country's justice system was seriously flawed.

Pillay issued a sharply-worded statement a day after Iraq put 21 men to death for terrorist offenses, bringing to 50 the number of executions Baghdad has carried out so far this year, despite widespread calls for a moratorium.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas pledged to launch talks "in the near future" on forming a national unity cabinet, following the resignation of prime minister Salam Fayyad.

Abbas made the remarks late Thursday at a meeting of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was attended by Fayyad.

Mortars and a bombing north of Baghdad killed eight people on Friday, on the eve of Iraq's first polls since U.S. troops withdrew and a day after a blast in a cafe in the capital left 27 dead.

Four mortars struck the Abu Tamur mosque in the town of Khales, which lies in restive Diyala province, as worshippers were departing following mid-day Friday prayers, a police colonel and a doctor said.

Saudi Arabia is hoping to wean jailed al-Qaida militants off religious extremism with counseling, spa treatments and plenty of exercise at a luxury rehabilitation center in Riyadh.

In between sessions with counselors and talks on religion, prisoners will be able to relax in the center’s facilities which include an Olympic-size indoor swimming pool, a sauna, a gym and a television hall.

Russia on Friday called the deployment of U.S. troops in Jordan over the Syria crisis an unconstructive step that threatens to expand the conflict as the kingdom's Islamist opposition said Amman's government should review its decision.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed Wednesday that 150 U.S. military specialists had been deployed in Jordan since last year and that he had ordered the army to bolster the mission by bringing the total American presence to more than 200 troops.