Thousands of inmates escaped prisons across Egypt on Sunday, including at least one jail that housed Muslim militants northwest of Cairo, adding to the chaos engulfing the country as anti-government protests continue to demand the ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak.

Security officials said the prisoners escaped overnight from four jails after starting fires and clashing with guards. The inmates were helped by gangs of armed men who attacked the prisons, firing at guards in gunbattles that lasted hours.

Israel is carefully watching developments in Egypt and its efforts are focused on maintaining the "stability and security" of the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

"We are attentively following what is going on in Egypt and in our region," Netanyahu told reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting after holding late-night talks with top intelligence brass and key ministers.

Lebanon’s ambassador to Cairo Khaled Ziade has informed Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami that Lebanese citizens in Egypt were unhurt following violent demonstrations against the Mubarak regime.

Shami’s office said in a statement that the Caretaker foreign minister was following up closely the situation of the Lebanese community in Egypt.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Egypt's Hosni Mubarak to avoid violence "at all costs" in a joint statement Saturday.

The three leaders called on Egypt's embattled president to commit to change in response to what they said were the "legitimate grievances" of his people.

Leading Egyptian dissident Mohammed ElBaradei said on Saturday that the appointment of a vice president and a new prime minister in Egypt was not enough to end a revolt against President Hosni Mubarak's rule.

He also urged Mubarak to leave Egypt as soon as possible for the good of the country, in comments to Al-Jazeera television.

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi spoke by telephone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday, the fifth day of protests calling for the end of Mubarak's regime, the Libyan news agency Jana reported.

Without giving details of their conversation, the news agency said Gaddafi called Mubarak "to reassure himself on the situation in Egypt."

Israel repatriated families of its diplomats in Egypt on Saturday in response to the unprecedented street protests in the Arab state with which it has a 1979 peace deal, the foreign ministry said.

"A special aircraft brought back to Israel on Saturday the families of diplomats and other official envoys, as well as about 40 Israelis on private visits to Cairo who wished to leave," said ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.

Embattled Hosni Mubarak tapped Egypt's military intelligence chief as his first-ever vice president and named a new prime minister as tens of thousands took their deadly revolt to the streets on Saturday for a fifth day demanding that the president step down.

Fresh riots erupted in several cities. In Cairo, three people were killed, and an enraged mob killed three police in the Sinai town of Rafah.

A French architect campaigning for a new exploration of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza said on Thursday that the edifice may contain two chambers housing funereal furniture.

Jean-Pierre Houdin -- who was rebuffed three years ago by Egypt in his appeal for a probe into how the Pyramid was built -- said 3-D simulation and data from a U.S. Egyptologist, Bob Brier, pointed to two secret chambers in the heart of the structure.

Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated peacefully in Amman and other cities after weekly prayers on Friday to press for political and economic reform, and demanding that the government resign.

"Egypt, the Arab nation salutes you. We urge your men to get rid of (President Hosni) Mubarak," an estimated 3,000 people chanted as they marched in Amman city center holding national flags.