A radical Muslim cleric in Bosnia accused of encouraging his followers to fight with Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq was charged with terrorism on Thursday, prosecutors said.

Husein Bosnic, from Buzim in the country's northwest, was arrested in September. Authorities said a number of his followers travelled to Iraq and Syria to fight alongside militants, with some killed there.

Russia plans to host delegations from the Syrian opposition in late January, possibly followed by a visit by regime representatives that could bring the two sides together for talks, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Pope Francis roundly condemned jihadist violence and the "brutal persecution" of religious minorities this year in a Christmas message to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and millions of others.

Speaking to a packed crowd outside Saint Peter's Basilica, the popular Argentine pontiff also made a strong call to end violence wrought against children amid "indifference and tears."

At least 44 members of the Islamic State group were killed in clashes with Kurdish forces in Syria on Thursday, a monitoring group said.

Thirty of the jihadists were killed fighting against members of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the village of Qassiab in Hasakeh province, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Audeh called on Thursday politicians to give up their narrow interests to safeguard the country, pointing out that the Lebanese are divided instead of exerting efforts to unite to avert dangers surrounding the state.

“Don't the Lebanese deserve that politicians give up their personal and narrow interests?” Audeh wondered in his Christmas sermon at St. George cathedral in downtown Beirut.

Jordan vowed Thursday to make every effort to save a pilot captured by the Islamic State group in Syria as Washington denied claims the jihadists had shot down his warplane.

Maaz al-Kassasbeh, a 26-year-old first lieutenant in the Jordanian air force, was captured by IS on Wednesday after his F-16 jet crashed while on a mission against the jihadists over northern Syria.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Russian deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed during the latter's visit to Lebanon earlier in December the ongoing conflict in Syria and the party's position on the matter, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday.

It said: “Despite the growing alliance between Moscow and Tehran and their backing of Damascus on the economic and military levels, Nasrallah has become a source of honest positions for Russia.”

In a squalid camp in eastern Lebanon, a school in a tent with a chalkboard and brightly colored desks offers children who fled Syria's war a chance of an education.

Thousands of child refugees are studying at dozens of makeshift schools across Lebanon, including 11-year-old Faruq Salkhadi, who dreams of becoming a doctor.

Opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime will meet in Cairo to try to reach a common "vision" to end the nearly four-year war, an opposition source said Wednesday.

"Several opposition groups and individuals have been in talks for more than two months, and we have been in contact with them to try to reach a joint vision to solve the crisis," said Munzer Khaddam of the National Democratic Body for Democratic Change, which is tolerated by the regime.

A brightly colored Christmas tree stands amid the ruins of the Syrian city of Homs, restoring some hope for Christians celebrating in their neighborhood for the first time in years.

"Our joy is indescribable," Taghrid Naanaa said while picking out Christmas tree decorations at a local shop.