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.

A woman was shot dead in eastern Syria on Sunday and a teenager died of wounds suffered at a funeral in the capital Damascus on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"A 40-year-old woman was killed at noon on Sunday by a stray bullet as security forces were tracking wanted people in the town of Bukamal," the Britain-based rights group cited an activist in Deir al-Zour province as saying.

Kuwaiti youth activists called on Sunday for major reforms to turn the oil-rich emirate into a constitutional monarchy, including the appointment of a premier from outside the Al-Sabah ruling family.

The previously unknown September 16 Youths group also called for the dismissal of the current government, the dissolution of parliament and the holding of fresh elections.

President Mahmud Abbas said in remarks published on Sunday that Palestinians will seek U.N. membership despite U.S. "threats" to stop financial aid.

"We will go to the United Nations to obtain an international recognition to the state of Palestine, despite the obstacles and dangers, including U.S. threats to halt 470 million dollars in annual assistance," Abbas told Jordan's government-owned al-Rai newspaper in an interview.

Israeli officials called on Sunday for relations with Egypt to return to normal despite Friday's attack by a mob on Israel's embassy in Cairo.

"We shall do everything in order that relations between the two countries will return to normal," Environment Minister Gilad Erdan, considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told public radio.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his country's commitment to peace with Egypt on Saturday, after a mob attacked Israel's embassy in Cairo.

"We are committed to preserving peace with Egypt, which is in the interest of Egypt and Israel," Netanyahu said in a radio address.

Israel said on Saturday its ambassador to Egypt, Yitzhak Levanon, will return to Cairo when security of the embassy of the Jewish state is guaranteed by the Arab nation.

Levanon will take his post again "as as soon as the security of the embassy is provided by Egypt," government spokesman Ron Sofer told army radio after Levanon and other diplomats returned home following an attack on their mission in Cairo Friday.

Yemen's army has freed the southern city of Zinjibar, overrun by al-Qaida suspects in May, and ended a siege of an army base there, state news agency Saba quoted Yemeni officials as saying Saturday.

"The heroes of the security and armed forces and the loyal tribesmen have managed to kick out al-Qaida gangs from Zinjibar," Saba quoted the governor of Abyan province, Saleh Hussein al-Zoary, as saying.

Syrian President Bashar Assad urged on Saturday Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi against falling victim to misleading campaigns aimed at creating incitement against Syria, reported the official Syrian news agency SANA.

Al-Arabi affirmed that the Arab League and Arab countries are committed to Syria's security and stability, it added.