Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani has accused the Syrian regime, with the complicity of the international community, of waging a "war of extermination" against its people.

Sheikh Hamad in an interview with Al-Jazeera satellite channel late on Monday took issue with U.N.-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who earlier in the day had characterized the deadly conflict ravaging Syria as a "civil war."

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Monday that dialogue is the “only” and “most elevated” way to resolve the current crisis in the country and find a solution for it.

“Dialogue should be based on good intentions and open minds by giving priority to Lebanon's interests,” Suleiman pointed out.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday voiced bitter frustration at the failure of the Syria ceasefire and stressed the need for international unity to end the violence.

"I am deeply disappointed that the parties failed to respect the call to suspend fighting," Ban said in the South Korean capital Seoul, where he received a peace prize from his home country.

Residents have fled the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan state after renewed shelling, a witness said on Saturday, as rebels claimed responsibility for their third attack this month.

"Yesterday five shells hit the ground inside the town while an official delegation from Khartoum was visiting," during the Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday, said the witness in Kadugli who asked for anonymity.

Russia accused Washington on Thursday of "coordinating" deliveries of arms to Syrian rebels, despite assurances by the State Department that the United States provides no lethal assistance.

"Washington is aware of the deliveries of various weapons to illegal armed groups active in Syria. Moreover, judging by the declarations of U.S. officials published in U.S. media, the U.S. coordinates and provides logistical assistance in such deliveries," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Syrian warplanes raided the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan on Wednesday, monitors said, as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi prepared to brief the U.N. Security Council on his ceasefire efforts.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy has proposed a ceasefire for the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha which start on Friday but without securing any firm commitment from the government or rebels who have been locked in conflict for the past 19 months.

The United Nations has made plans to assemble a peacekeeping force for Syria if a ceasefire proposed by a special envoy takes hold, a top U.N. official said Monday.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous stressed however that planning was very tentative while fighting rages in Syria and would be dependent on the U.N. Security Council overcoming its bitter divisions on the 19-month-old conflict.

The Free Syrian Army accused Hizbullah of “occupying” six Syrian towns near the Lebanese-Syrian border, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Friday.

A spokesman for the army, Fahed al-Msari, told the daily: “We doubt that United Nations and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's ceasefire proposal for the Eid al-Adha holiday will be a success amid Hizbullah's occupation of these Syrian towns.”

Leaders of French-speaking nations ended a summit Sunday by calling for an overhaul of the U.N. Security Council to give Africa better representation, while host country Democratic Republic of Congo was forced to defend its rights record.

Speaking at the end of the 14th Francophonie summit, held in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, participants said Africa -- with its one billion people -- needed a stronger voice in international dialogue.

Germany's foreign minister called Sunday for tougher European Union sanctions against Iran, on the eve of a meeting to decide on harsher measures against Tehran over its disputed nuclear drive.

"Iran has not moved on any of the important questions over the past few months. Therefore, we must increase the sanctions pressure," Guido Westerwelle said in a statement.