Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said on Monday that it recognizes the Syrian National Council grouping of opponents of President Bashar al-Assad as the country's government.

"The National Transitional Council has decided after a meeting today to recognize the Syrian National Council as the sole legitimate government in Syria," NTC member Mussa al-Koni told a news conference in Tripoli.

Egypt's military rulers ordered a speedy probe into clashes which killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians, as the cabinet held crisis talks amid fears of wider sectarian unrest and Washington urged restraint.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) "tasked the government with quickly forming a fact finding committee to determine what happened," in a statement read on state television.

Syrian opposition leaders meeting in Sweden called for international observers in their country but largely opposed foreign military intervention, organizers said Monday.

The opposition group leaders who met at the weekend agreed on "the international community's role, demanding to have observers on site, and that minority groups should be given legally binding protection" once a new regime is in place, Jens Orback, the secretary general of the Olof Palme Centre, told reporters.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she will call Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Monday to try to set a date for a restart of stalled peace talks.

Speaking at the close of talks between European Union foreign ministers, Ashton said she would call "to invite them to meet in the coming days."

U.S. President Barack Obama is "deeply concerned" about violence in Egypt, the White House said Monday, calling for minority Copts to be protected and stressing the need for timely elections.

White House spokesman Jay Carney issued a statement after clashes in Cairo killed 25 people, mostly Coptic Christians and injured more than 300, sparking fears of widespread sectarian unrest.

The clashes that erupted Sunday between Coptic Christians and Egyptian security forces have raised fears that sectarian and political tensions in the country will increase given that Egypt is passing through a transition period following the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's ruling military council on Monday ordered a speedy probe into clashes which killed 25 people as the cabinet held crisis talks amid fears of widespread sectarian unrest.

A group of more than 200 heavily armed gunmen attacked a mosque in the Libyan capital and ransacked the tombs of two imams, witnesses said on Monday.

"They arrived shortly after 10:00 pm (2000 GMT, Sunday night), between 200 and 300 of them, in pickups fitted with heavy machine-guns. They took off at about 1:00 am," said Mahmud Rahman, a resident of Tripoli's northeastern Al-Masri district.

A Palestinian was killed in northern Gaza near the border with Israel on Monday, the DFLP group and medics said, in circumstances disputed by the Israeli army.

Adham Abu Selmiya, spokesman for Gaza's emergency services, said a man had been killed by Israeli tank fire but his body was so badly disfigured that medics were not immediately able to identify him.

Syria on Monday warned Turkey against "inflaming" unrest in the country, where more than 3,000 people are estimated to have died in six months of protests against President Bashar Assad.

Buthaina Shaaban, media adviser to the Syrian president, who has repeatedly promised reforms, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that "armed gangs" were responsible for the violence.

Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Monday convened crisis talks and tasked the government with forming a fact finding team to probe clashes that left 24 people dead in Cairo.

The council (SCAF) "tasked the government with quickly forming a fact finding committee to determine what happened and take legal measures against all those proven to have been involved, either directly or by incitement," it said in a statement read on state television.