Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years behind bars after being convicted on charges of rape and other sexual assault offences, Israeli media said.

The judges also handed the disgraced former president a two-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay compensation of 100,000 shekels ($28,000/20,000 euros) to the main victim, known only as "Aleph.”

Coalition forces bombarded Libya for a third straight night Monday, targeting the air defenses and forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, stopping his advances and handing some momentum back to the rebels, who were on the verge of defeat just last week.

But the rebellion's more organized military units still were not ready, and the opposition disarray underscored U.S. warnings that a long stalemate could emerge.

An exiled cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned his regime Monday it only had a "small window of opportunity" to introduce reform or face being overthrown by a mounting protest movement.

"You have to move very quickly. This is a very small window of opportunity," Ribal al-Assad, head of the London-based Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria, urged the Middle East state in an interview with Agence France Presse.

The U.N. Security Council began a closed-door meeting on Libya Monday, diplomats said, amid rising international criticism of air strikes directed at the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.

Missile and air strikes launched over the weekend by U.S., British and French forces targeted Libyan air defense systems to impose a no-fly zone on Gadhafi's forces, and on Sunday demolished a building in the Libyan leader's compound.

Libyan government forces pulled back 100 kilometers from rebel-held Benghazi but showed they still had plenty of fight on Monday as they easily beat off a rebel advance.

The forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had retreated overnight to the key town of Ajdabiya, south of the city of Benghazi, after Western-led air strikes destroyed much of their armor, leaving dozens of wrecked tanks along the road.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday slammed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's comments on military action against Libya as "unacceptable", in the most public clash yet between Russia's ruling tandem.

Putin earlier Monday denounced the U.N. resolution allowing military action on Libya as resembling a "medieval call to crusade", in one of his most virulent diatribes against the West in years.

Thousands of Syrians marched Monday in the southern town of Daraa after the funeral of a protester killed in the previous day's demonstration inspired by revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, a resident said.

The resident said "a mass of demonstrators started to march from the cemetery towards Al-Omari mosque after the burial" of Raed Akrad, who was killed by security forces on Sunday when they used live ammunition to break up a protest.

Jordan's Islamists urged King Abdullah II on Monday to carry out reforms similar to measures taken this month by his Moroccan counterpart, saying there was no need for a dialogue commission.

"King Abdullah knows the meaning of real reform, which does not need a committee to initiate dialogue," Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of political office of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), told Agence France Presse.

Tanks were deployed in the Yemeni capital on Monday as top generals pledged allegiance to the "revolution" and the country's main tribal leader demanded President Ali Abdullah Saleh's exit from power.

Tanks took up positions in key locations across Sanaa including at the presidential palace, the central bank and the ministry of defense, but it was unclear what their orders were or who was in command.

Human Rights Watch Monday accused Syrian authorities of using "excessive force" in a crackdown on anti-regime protesters that killed five people over the past three days.

The U.S.-based rights watchdog said in a statement that "Syria should cease use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters" following the violence in Daraa, 100 kilometers south of the capital Damascus.