Bahraini security forces opened fire Friday on anti-regime protesters in the capital, wounding dozens, after the military vowed "strict measures" to restore order in the wake of a deadly police raid.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa promised to open a national dialogue once calm returns, a statement quickly backed by a royal announcement that he had been assigned to start such discussions.

Tens of thousands of Iran regime loyalists poured on to the streets of Tehran Friday, demanding that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi be hanged for their "rebellion."

"Death to Mousavi! Death to Karroubi! Mousavi, Karroubi should be hanged!" worshippers chanted as they emerged from Friday prayers at Tehran University to join large crowds of loyalists marching towards prominent Enghelab Square (Revolution Square).

Anti-regime protesters in the volatile Yemen city of Taez were blasted with a hand grenade Friday leaving two dead and dozens hurt, while violent clashes also erupted in Sanaa, witnesses said.

The grenade attack came as hundreds of protesters took to the center of Taez after the Friday Muslim prayers to demand the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, in protests that have been raging in the city for the past week.

Hundreds of stateless Arabs in the Gulf state of Kuwait demonstrated on Friday demanding a solution to their problem and citizenship which the government refuses, an Agence France Presse photographer said.

Some 300 men began the protest following the Muslim Friday prayers in Jahra city, 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Kuwait City amid tight security including members of the elite riot police.

Libya said an Arab League summit set for March 29 has been put off, but Iraq, which is hosting the event, denied the claim, saying on Friday that postponement was not "an individual decision."

The official Libyan news agency Jana reported on Thursday that the presidency of the Arab League summit had decided to push back the Baghdad meeting in light of turmoil across the Arab world.

Libyan security forces killed at least 24 people in a violent crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations during a "Day of Anger" against strongman Moammer Gadhafi, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

The New York-based rights group, citing witnesses, said 24 protesters were killed and scores injured during Thursday's assaults on protests in two Libyan cities.

Egypt has arrested two former government ministers and a businessman on suspicion of diverting public funds, a judicial source told Agence France Presse on Thursday.

Once widely feared former interior minister Habib al-Adly was also arrested on suspicion of money-laundering and ordered held for 15 days, the same source said.

Ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali suffered a stroke and was "in a coma" in a Saudi hospital, a family friend said Thursday, as more details of corruption under his rule came to light.

The 74-year-old former leader slipped into a coma "two days ago" while being treated in a Jeddah hospital after a stroke, according to the friend.

Bahrain's opposition demands the resignation of Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa's government following a deadly raid on anti-regime protesters, a Shiite opposition bloc said on Thursday.

"The opposition groups, including Al-Wefaq, have issued a statement demanding the government resign and calling for the formation of a new government to investigate this crime," said Al-Wefaq bloc's leader, Ali Salman.

Iranian officials were in contact with their counterparts in Egypt to secure the passage of two warships through the Suez Canal, Tehran's English-language Press TV reported on Thursday.

The vessels intend to transit the canal, the channel's website quoted an unnamed Iranian navy official as saying.