New York - The intensified fighting in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo involved human shields and could create a "humanitarian crisis of catastrophic dimensions," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

The fighting between rebel troops and government soldiers could bring "dire consequences" in the region, Ban said.

Ban called on governments that have influence on the forces on the ground to try to restore an effective ceasefire and prevent further casualties among the civilian population.

Damascus - Talks to reconcile differences between feuding Palestinian factions could fall apart if Egyptian mediators refuse to consider input from the factions, a source close to the negotiations said Wednesday.

"Egypt told the Palestinian factions that it would not consider the comments and amendments made by the factions on the draft submitted by Cairo," said Khaled Abdel Meguid, secretary of the follow-up committee of a national meeting of Palestinians.

Damascus - The Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned on Wednesday the US charge d'affaires in protest at a military raid on Syria, Syrian news agency SANA reported.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said it was waiting for clarification from the Iraqi and US governments on the raid that killed eight people near Syria's border with Iraq. Syria called the raid "unacceptable for Syria's sovereignty" and said it could take measures in response. No further details were given.