LIVE BLOG: The Middle East as it happens

The New York Times is running an editorial criticising Turkish Primne Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "cynical" political manoeuvres with regards to Kobane:

"Mr. Erdogan’s behavior is hardly worthy of a NATO ally. He was so eager to oust Mr. Assad that he enabled ISIS and other militants by allowing fighters, weapons and revenues to flow through Turkey. If Mr. Erdogan refuses to defend Kobani and seriously join the fight against the Islamic State, he will further enable a savage terrorist group and ensure a poisonous long-term instability on his border.

"He has also complicated his standing at home. His hesitation in helping the Syrian Kurds has enraged Turkey’s Kurdish minority, which staged protests against the Turkish government on Wednesday that reportedly led to the deaths of 21 people. Mr. Erdogan fears that defending Kobani would strengthen the Syrian Kurds, who have won de facto control of many border areas as they seek autonomy much like their Kurdish brethren in Iraq. But if Kobani falls, Kurdish fury will undoubtedly grow."

An explosion has been reported at Tahrir Square in Sana'a - reports are coming in of injuries and ambulances at the scene.

Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said on Tuesday in Ottawa, Canada that his country supports US-led international coalition against IS.

Lamamra did however denied any plans to take part in the ongoing operations in Iraq and Syria.

Algeria’s top diplomat explained that “our doctrine of non-alignment doesn’t allow us (Algeria) to accept hosting foreign bases on our territory nor leave our troops take part in missions outside our borders.”

He also acknowledged that the international military intervention against IS had become “inevitable,” warning however, that it should not “become a humanitarian catastrophe for the people in Syria, which could lead them to see in terrorism a lesser evil compared to the international coalition bombardment.”

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated on Wednesday his country's "red lines" in negotiations with world powers over its controversial nuclear programme due to resume next week in Vienna.

Khamenei's intervention came as both the United States and EU confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton would meet in the Austrian capital with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Ashton will first hold bilateral talks next Tuesday with Zarif, as is customary ahead of each round of nuclear negotiations, and a three-way meeting is to be held the next day on October 15, her spokesman Michael Mann said.

Israel must play a role in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a top US official said Wednesday ahead of key donor talks in Cairo, also pressing all sides to agree a lasting ceasefire.

Mohamed Soltan, a 27-year-old Egyptian-American political detainee in Egypt, was transferred to the ICU in Kasr Al-Aini Hospital due to internal bleeding, vomiting blood and for his deteriorating health conditions, according to his brother Omar.

Soltan who has been imprisoned in Egypt for over a year entered an open hunger strike for more than 250 days protesting his unlawful and arbitrary detention. He also stopped drinking water seven days ago.

His hunger strike is the longest in history, according to human rights group, Human Rights Monitor.  

Tunisia coast guards on Wednesday foiled an attempt by 44 people to illegally immigrate to Italy by sea.

Coast guard chief in the eastern Tunisian province of Mahdia, Karim Ayari said coast guards had received a request for help at 6:00am on Wednesday from a fishing boat that broke down off the coast of Chebba city.

Rescuers found 44 people aboard the boat, who had planned to illegally travel to Italy, he said.

According to Ayari, 38 Syrians, four Tunisians and two Algerians were aboard the boat.

The White House denied Wednesday it was considering creating a safe haven along Turkey's border with Syria, after the US and British top diplomats said the idea was worth examining.

"It's not something that is under consideration right now," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on Wednesday discussed the latest developments in the Middle East region in a phone conversation with British Prime Minister David Cameron, local Saudi media has reported.

"The king received a phone call from Cameron during which he and the British prime minister discussed bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern, as well as developments on the regional and international levels," Saudi's official news agency reported.

Further details have yet to be reported about the discussion. 

Turkey's prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey will always protect its citizens and the rights of Kobane's victims.

He also went on to blame the United Nation's five permanent members of the Security Council as primarily responsible for the latest developments in Kobane. 

Davutoglu has also vowed to quell the pro-Kurdish protests that have spurred across the country since Monday. 

US-led air strikes are not enough to prevent Islamic State militants from capturing the Syrian border town of Kobane, the Pentagon said.

"Air strikes alone are not going to do this, not going to fix this, not going to save the town of Kobane," spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters. Ultimately, "capable" ground forces - rebel fighters in Syria and Iraqi government troops -would have to defeat the IS group, he said.

Thousands of Kurds demonstrated Wednesday in front of the UN headquarters in Arbil to demand international support for the Syrian town of Kobane as it tries to resist a deadly jihadist assault.

Most of the demonstrators in the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region were supporters of Turkey's banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and protested against Ankara's stance.