The Independent, its sister publication Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times report that the armed Syrian opposition group, which detained around twenty United Nations (UN) peacekeepers on the Golan Heights near Israel’s border on Wednesday, claim that the monitors are being held purely “as guests.” The group is quoted in some reports saying that the UN personnel are being detained for their own safety. The Financial Times reports the armed group is demanding that Syrian army forces leave the area, but that the detained peacekeepers are expected to be released within twenty-four hours. Meanwhile, the Guardian online says that two British tourists were briefly kidnapped and then released in the Sinai region of Egypt, by a Bedouin group. The Sinai has become increasingly lawless since the fall of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

The online editions of the Guardian, Independent, Times and Financial Times report that the son-in-law of Osama Bin Laden, who also acted as an al-Qaeda spokesman, will appear in a New York court today on charges of conspiring to kill Americans. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was apprehended in Jordan and is one of a handful of al-Qaeda figures to be brought to trial in the United States.

The Greenslade blog at the Guardian online reports that two journalists were recently arrested and three reformist publications banned in Iran shortly after having criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The article comments that these actions should be viewed in the context of candidates flexing their muscles ahead of upcoming presidential elections.

The Independent i reports that Mohammed Asfour, who was shot by Israeli security forces during a violent demonstration in the West Bank two weeks ago, has died of his wounds in an Israeli hospital. The article says that the Israeli military is investigating the incident.

Both the Guardian online and the Times online report that an Israeli chef is taking advantage of the large swarm of locusts which plagued southern Israel this week by serving them as a rare kosher delicacy in his Jerusalem restaurant.

The Independent includes an obituary of Rabbi Menachem Froman who died earlier this week. Rabbi Froman lived in the West Bank settlement of Tekoa, but was very well known for his efforts to promote coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians and was well respected by leading figures from both communities.

In the Israeli media this morning, most front pages focus on apparent progress having been made in the coalition talks between Likud-Beitenu, the Yesh Atid and Jewish Home parties. The headline in Yediot Ahronot declares “On the way to a government,” and although Sof Hashavua reports that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid denied that progress in negotiations had been made, Likud-Beitenu sources are claiming that a deal is close. Some reports say that a government could be announced as soon as early next week. It is widely thought that the coalition will consist of Likud-Beitenu, Yesh Atid, Jewish Home, Kadima and Hatnuah, which has already concluded an agreement to join the government. Speculation over ministerial portfolios continues and although Haaretz says that the allocation of ministries remains an open question, Maariv suggests that Yair Lapid will drop his demand to become foreign minister and take charge of the interior ministry instead, with Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett becoming finance minister.

In other news, Maariv reports Israeli concerns that the UN will remove its peacekeeping force from the Golan Heights, following the detention of around twenty of its monitors by an armed Syrian opposition group. The UN force has been in place on the Israel-Syria border since a ceasefire agreement at the end of the Yom Kippur War in 1974.