Tunisia enters a new phase of democratic rule Tuesday following a power-sharing deal between the three main political parties sealed 10 months after a popular uprising ended years of dictatorship.

The North African nation will Tuesday inaugurate its elected constituent assembly, which is to confirm the appointment of Hamadi Jebali of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party as prime minister and two other key appointments.

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor arrived in Tripoli on Tuesday to meet Libyan authorities following the arrest of Moammar Gadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam, his office said.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo and deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda head a delegation whose aim is to coordinate their efforts after the arrest of Seif al-Islam and unconfirmed reports regarding the arrest of Abdullah al-Senussi.

Thousands of protesters swarmed Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday to demand an end to military rule, heightening tension after days of deadly clashes that threaten to derail next week's legislative polls.

The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) began crisis talks with a number of political forces in a bid to defuse the crisis, state media reported.

Egypt's military rulers have failed to live up to their promises and have even committed worse rights abuses than the regime of ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

The London-based watchdog made the criticism in a report that comes after Egyptian police and troops killed at least 24 people in three days at protests against military rule in Cairo's Tahrir Square and across the country.

One protester died of wounds sustained when security forces opened fire on protesters in the Shiite Qatif region of Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, medical officials said on Tuesday.

Ali al-Felfel was hit by a bullet in the chest Monday night and died in hospital later, they said.

Saudi security forces opened fire on protesters in the Eastern Province Shiite region of al-Qatif on Monday, wounding several people, witnesses said.

The demonstrators had taken to the streets in the town of Shwika to protest against the death overnight Sunday of a 19-year-old Shiite man, Nasser al-Mheishi, accusing police of killing him, the witnesses said.

Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has reached a "dead end" but only internal forces can bring about change, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Monday, in an interview with the Guardian.

Speaking on the eve of a three-day state visit to Britain, Gul warned that Assad's back-tracking on reforms agreed by the Arab League had made international negotiation impossible.

European nations on Monday condemned "terrible atrocities" in Syria as they formally launched a new bid to get a U.N. resolution passed condemning the deadly crackdown on opposition protests.

The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee will vote Tuesday on the resolution which the Damascus government's U.N. envoy said was proof that the European nations suffer from "Syria-phobia".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged the Syrian opposition to unify to become stronger as he held his first meeting with their representatives in London on Monday.

Hague said after the talks at the Foreign Office he had reiterated that Britain wanted President Bashar al-Assad and his regime to stand down over its bloody crackdown on opposition protesters.

Thousands of Kuwaitis rallied on Monday for a change of government and the dissolution of parliament a day after the Gulf state ruler said he will not bow to pressure to change the prime minister.

Organizers estimated a crowd of 15,000 people braved rain to gather opposite the parliament building in the capital Kuwait City, where they also called for the premier to face questioning over graft allegations.