The top military commander of the Western-backed Syrian opposition is in Turkey for talks with rebels, a spokesman said Thursday, denying reports that he had fled Syria.

The Wall Street Journal reported that General Selim Idriss, the head of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, had been forced to flee after the rival Islamic Front overran key FSA bases near the border with Turkey.

The Gulf state of Qatar on Tuesday launched a genetic code mapping project for its small population to help in treating diseases.

The "Qatar Genome" project is a "road map for future treatment," said Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the wife of the former emir, at the opening of the World Innovation Summit for Health in Doha.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel reaffirmed U.S. military ties with Qatar on Tuesday, during a regional tour aimed at shoring up Gulf alliances amid disagreements over policy on Iran and Syria.

Hagel met Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and his minister of state for defense, Major General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah, in Doha, following stops in Saudi Arabia on Monday and Bahrain last week.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim is scheduled to travel to Qatar in order to tackle the case of the nuns who were kidnapped in Syria's Maalula region earlier this week, reported LBCI television.

He told the station that he was tasked by President Michel Suleiman to address the case in the Arab Gulf state.

Qatar has stressed it has had no direct or indirect contact with Syria's regime, as the head of Hizbullah said he had received an envoy from Doha.

"Qatar does not have any direct or indirect contacts with the Syrian regime," said the foreign ministry in a statement late Tuesday, stressing support for the armed opposition.

Qatar reportedly reversed on Monday a decision to expel Shiite Lebanese citizens from the Gulf country.

"Qatar decided to suspend a decision to expel Lebanese expats after a mediation by General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim," OTV said on Monday evening.

Qatar said on Thursday that three camels have been found infected with the MERS coronavirus, in the first case of animals contracting the SARS-like virus in the Gulf state.

The camels were found in the same barn, and had been in contact with two humans who fully recovered from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, said the country's Supreme Council of Health.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Thursday that Qatar pledged to offer the Lebanese government direct funds to aid Syrian refugees on Lebanese territories.

Miqati said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that Doha will continue also to cooperate with international and humanitarian organizations to contribute in improving the conditions of the refugees.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has said Qatari officials informed him that they were exerting strong efforts to win the release of two bishops kidnapped in Syria.

In remarks to An Nahar daily published on Thursday, Charbel said the officials stressed to him that Doha was working with persistence to resolve the case of Bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, who were kidnapped by armed men in Syria in April.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati hailed on Wednesday ties between Lebanon and Qatar, saying that they are among the strongest foreign relations enjoyed by Lebanon.

He thanked Qatar for its role in supporting Lebanon in various fields, saying: “This visit helped reinvigorate Lebanese-Qatari relations.”