Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said Wednesday he would form a government of technocrats without political affiliations, after the murder of opposition leader Chokri Belaid sparked violent protests.

"I have decided to form a government of competent nationals without political affiliation, which will have a mandate limited to managing the affairs of the country until elections are held in the shortest possible time," Jebali said in a televised address to the nation.

Opposition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib demanded all women held in Syrian prisons be freed by Sunday, or the regime will lose its chance for dialogue, in an interview with BBC Arabic.

"These things cannot wait until judgment day. The demand that the women are released means that if there is one single woman still in prison in Syria on Sunday, I consider that the regime has rejected my initiative," the National Coalition leader said.

The high-profile U.S. drone strike that killed American-born radical preacher Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen was partly conducted from a secret air base in Saudi Arabia, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The base was established two years ago as part of U.S. efforts to intensify the pursuit of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, a grouping of the Yemeni and Saudi offshoots of the global terror network, the newspaper said.

Bahrain's opposition said on Wednesday that an agreement on the mechanism of a planned national dialogue should be agreed before the start of the talks aimed at ending the kingdom's political deadlock.

The Shiite-led opposition's position could mean that the dialogue might not start on Sunday if it sticks to its demands and shuns the talks, as it has in the past.

The United States on Wednesday denounced the killing of prominent Tunisian opposition figure Chokri Belaid, describing it as an "outrageous and cowardly act."

"The United States strongly condemns this morning's assassination of Chokri Belaid, a Tunisian political party leader and a prominent opposition figure under the (Zine El Abidine) Ben Ali regime," the embassy in Tunis said.

Reviving Middle East peace talks will be a key element of Barack Obama's first trip as president, and despite U.S. caution he will seek to build on the center's strong showing in Israel's election, analysts say.

The Palestinians were not mentioned when National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor on Tuesday announced Obama's visit to Israel early in his second term and also his first as president.

Four Tunisian opposition groups, including the Popular Front of slain opposition leader Chokri Belaid, announced on Wednesday they were pulling out of the national assembly and called for a general strike.

The decision was taken at a meeting after Belaid was gunned down as he was leaving his home earlier on Wednesday, in an act that his family and supporters have blamed on the ruling Islamist party Ennahda.

A Saudi court in Eastern Province on Wednesday sentenced two Shiites to prison terms over riots in the predominantly Shiite district of Qatif, a judicial source said.

The sentences were among verdicts issued by the court in the case of five men accused of rioting.

Tunisia President Moncef Marzouki denounced "the odious assassination" of his friend and opposition leader Chokri Belaid in an impassioned speech Wednesday that brought tears to the eyes of Europe's politicians.

Speaking before the European Parliament in Strasbourg, a city where he spent many years in exile himself, Marzouki said hours after Belaid was shot dead that his murder would not tip Tunisia to unrest.

Hundreds of Egyptians marched Wednesday to demand an end to sexual violence against women, as Amnesty International urged an end to the culture of impunity following harrowing reports of mob attacks in Cairo.

Men and women, holding huge flags of famous Egyptian female icons, marched from Sayyeda Zeinab mosque to Tahrir Square chanting against the interior ministry, which is accused of failing to bring perpetrators to justice.