Gunmen killed a senior Yemeni intelligence officer in the main southern city of Aden, the latest in a spate of assassinations to hit the south, a security official said on Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Ahmed Abd Rabbo was driving along the main coast road on Sunday evening when protesters blocked his way, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iranian intelligence forces have killed three members of an outlawed leftist Kurdish group, one of whom was responsible for killing three policemen, state television reported on Monday.

"Three members of Komalah terrorist group were killed during a fight with our intelligence forces two nights ago," the television's website quoted Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi as saying after a cabinet meeting late on Sunday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday urged Syria to immediately stop its "killing machine" against anti-regime protesters, and reiterated its demand for serious reforms.

Ending a meeting in Jeddah, the six GCC foreign ministers issued a statement calling for "an immediate end to the killing machine" in Syria.

A new transitional government will be formed in Libya within 10 days, the deputy chief of the National Transitional Council told reporters on Sunday.

"A new government will be formed within one week to ten days," said Mahmoud Jibril, who serves as the "prime minister" of the NTC, the political wing of the rebellion that overthrew strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

One of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s sons, Al-Saadi Gadhafi, arrived Sunday in Niger, a government spokesman said.

"Today, September 11, a patrol of the Nigerien armed forces intercepted a convoy in which was found one of Gadhafi’s sons," Marou Amadou said.

Former rebel fighters clashed on Sunday with pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces at the oasis town of Bani Walid and were closing in on Sirte, poised for all-out assaults on the fallen leader's remaining strongholds.

Medics said at least two fighters were killed and 12 wounded in the skirmishes on the outskirts of Bani Walid, near to where forces loyal to Libya's new rulers were massed, waiting for the final signal to storm the town.

The satellite channel Al-Jazeera Egypt said on Sunday the authorities had prevented it from broadcasting, after entering its offices and confiscating transmission equipment.

Ahmed Zain, the channel's chief in Cairo, told Agence France Presse that police, officers from the culture ministry and representatives of Egypt's public broadcaster had also seized materials and that one technician was arrested.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers not to launch any attacks on U.S. troops before a year-end deadline for their withdrawal from the country, in a statement seen on Sunday.

Sadr's remarks came just days after he backtracked on a call for popular anti-government rallies. American forces have accused militias linked to the cleric of largely being behind attacks on its soldiers.

At least 12 people were killed and 16 wounded when two groups of fighters opposed to Moammar Gadhafi turned on each other in Libya's west, two officials said on Sunday.

The fighting, which has its roots in ancient rivalries and pitted combatants from the towns of Gharyan and Kikla on the one side and from Asabah on the other, broke out on Saturday, according to the chief of the Gharyan council and confirmed by the head of the military council of Asabah.

The testimony of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Egypt's military ruler, as a witness at the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak has been postponed to September 24, judicial sources said Sunday.

Tantawi, who is the de facto head of state since the fall of Mubarak to a popular uprising in February, faced a last minute difficulty which made him unavailable to testify as scheduled on Sunday, the sources said.