PARIS (Reuters) -A French court on Thursday ruled for the release from prison of Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, after serving almost 40 years in prison for attacks on American and Israeli diplomats in France, BFM TV reported.

The former head of the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Brigade (LARB) was sentenced to life in 1987 for his role in the 1982 murders in Paris of U.S. military attache Charles Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov, and the attempted murder of U.S. Consul General Robert Homme in Strasbourg in 1984.

A fire tore through a newly opened shopping mall in the eastern Iraqi city of Kut overnight, killing at least 61 people, authorities said Thursday as grief-stricken families buried their loved ones.

Officials said many people suffocated in bathrooms, while one person told AFP his five relatives died in an elevator.

The blaze -- the latest in a country where safety regulations are frequently neglected -- broke out late on Wednesday and lasted into the early morning.

Syrian troops on Thursday pulled out of the Druze heartland of Sweida on the orders of the Islamist-led government, following days of deadly clashes that killed nearly 600 people, according to a war monitor.

The southern province has been gripped by deadly sectarian bloodshed since Sunday, with hundreds reportedly killed in clashes pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes and the army and its allies.

The city of Sweida was desolate on Thursday, AFP correspondents on the ground reported, with shops looted, homes burnt and bodies in the streets.

DAMASCUS/CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority", as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

In his first televised statement after powerful Israeli air strikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying "we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party".

CAIRO (Reuters) -Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday that protecting the Druze citizens and their rights is "our priority", as Israel vowed to destroy Syrian government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria.

In his first televised statement after the powerful Israeli airstrikes on Damascus on Wednesday, Sharaa addressed Druze citizens saying "we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party".

By Ammu Kannampilly, Jonathan Landay and Jessica Donati

(Reuters) -With 1,100 metric tons of emergency food rations nearing expiry in a U.S. government warehouse in Dubai after President Donald Trump's aid freeze, it took a warning of "wasted tax dollars" for a top U.S. official to eventually agree to a deal for the supplies to be used, sources told Reuters.

DAMASCUS/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel launched powerful airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, blowing up part of the defence ministry and hitting near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

The attacks marked a significant Israeli escalation against the Islamist-led administration of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. They came despite his warming ties with the U.S. and his administration's evolving security contacts with Israel.

A protestor wearing a t-shirt reading "Israel out of the Tour" was arrested on Wednesday after running onto the final straight of the Tour de France 11th stage.

The protestor, who was also holding a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, got past security barriers and ran towards the finish line in Toulouse as Norway's Jonas Abrahamsen won a sprint finale.

The man was intercepted by a race staff member and arrested, the local prefecture said.

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey has conveyed its views regarding Israel's air strikes on Syria to Israeli authorities via its intelligence agency, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday, adding Ankara was also in close contact with regional powers and the U.S.

Turkey has condemned Israel's strikes against other regional countries, including Lebanon, Iran and Syria, while calling its military assault on Gaza a genocide. It has halted all trade and recalled its ambassador in Tel Aviv for consultations too.

In Syria's Druze-majority city of Sweida, residents said they have been living in terror since the arrival of government forces who have been carrying out what witnesses and a war monitor have called summary executions.

"A lot of my friends were killed, including a doctor who was going to hospital," said Osama, 32, by telephone on Wednesday, adding he was in the centre of the southern city.

"There were summary executions in the streets," he told AFP crying, declining to provide his surname.