Syrian authorities arrested an opposition figure in the restive city of Homs as rights groups derided the government's move to end decades of draconian emergency rule, an activist said to France Agence Press on Wednesday.

Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Mahmoud Issa was taken into custody in Homs on Tuesday; hours after the cabinet approved a bill to rescind the state of emergency.

A rebel official in Libya's besieged city of Misrata pleaded for Britain and France to send troops to help fight Moammer Gadhafi's forces, while a son of the strongman said he was "very optimistic" his father's regime will prevail, sources told the Agence French Presse on Wednesday.

A senior member of Misrata's governing council, Nuri Abdullah Abdullati, said they were asking for the troops on the basis of "humanitarian" principles, in the first request by insurgents for boots on the ground.

Syria's government approved on Tuesday a bill to rescind a decades-old emergency law and agreed to abolish the state security court, after weeks of pro-democracy protests and hundreds of deaths.

The cabinet also approved a bill regulating demonstrations, the official news agency SANA reported, only hours after the interior minister imposed a total ban on political gatherings and after security forces fired on protesters in the city of Homs, killing four.

Syria imposed on Tuesday a total ban on all demonstrations after warning of a crackdown on an "armed revolt" by Islamist radicals and security forces fired on protesters in the city of Homs, killing at least four.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim al-Shaar told people "to refrain from taking part in all marches, demonstrations or sit-ins under any banner whatsoever," state news agency SANA reported.

A new outbreak of post-poll rioting in northern Nigeria left many dead overnight, the Red Cross said Tuesday, after President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for unity following his win.

Authorities have not given a death toll for the rioting that began sporadically over the weekend over allegations of vote rigging and quickly spread to some 14 states on Monday. An estimated 15,000 have been displaced.

Yemeni police killed one man and wounded several other people on Tuesday when they opened fire on anti-regime demonstrators ahead of a government delegation meeting with Gulf foreign ministers in Abu Dhabi.

Police fired "indiscriminately" on protesters demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the Wadi al-Qadi district of Taez, the second most-populated city of Yemen, south of Sanaa, according to witnesses.

Three army officers and three children were killed by "armed criminal gangs" around the central city of Homs, Syrian authorities announced on Tuesday.

"Armed criminal gangs who block roads and spread fear in the area, came upon General Abdo Khodr Al-Tellawi, his two children and his nephew, and killed them in cold blood," the official news agency SANA reported. The victims' bodies were "mutilated", SANA added.

Iran said on Tuesday it is yet to decide on appointing an ambassador to Egypt, but added that developing ties with Arab world's most populous country is in the interests of both nations.

"The information on appointment of ambassador or other positions are predictions made in a rush, although we are ready to take steps when the Egyptians are willing" to resume relations with Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters at his weekly press conference.

Yemeni lawmakers, who split from the ruling General People's Congress party, have established a new political group calling for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a statement from the bloc said.

The new group, named "Justice and Building bloc", comprises former ministers and members of the parliament who had deserted GPC in protest to the heavy handed response by authorities to anti-Saleh demonstrations.

Foreign Minister Walid Muallem pledged on Monday that Syria will go ahead with reforms as promised, but warned against "sabotage" committed by protesters, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

"The reforms will continue and peaceful protests are authorized, but the recourse to violence and sabotage is unacceptable," it quoted Muallem as saying at a meeting with a group of ambassadors posted to Syria.