Bahraini police fired tear gas and stun grenades Tuesday to disperse protesters trying to march to Pearl Square, the now-crushed symbol of their uprising that they occupied two years ago, witnesses said.

Hundreds of people marched towards the square in the capital Manama carrying Bahraini flags and chanting: "Square of martyrdom, we all still have the will".

Riyadh governor Prince Sattam bin Abdul Aziz, a half brother of the Saudi king, died on Tuesday, state news agency SPA reported without saying what caused his death.

SPA quoted a royal statement as saying that Prince Sattam, who was in his 70s, would be buried in the Saudi capital on Wednesday. The brief report gave no other details about why and where the death occurred.

Tunisia's ruling Ennahda party said Tuesday it could leave power, throwing Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali a lifeline in his quest to form a government of technocrats and steer the country out of its crisis.

"Ennahda could quit power if Jebali maintains his proposal. Everything is possible. It is not inevitable for Ennahda to stay in the government," Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem said.

Syria's President Bashar Assad said Tuesday state institutions and the country's citizens must engage in a "collective effort" to ease the effects of the spiraling war, state news agency SANA said.

Assad made his call during a first meeting with his government after a reshuffle of five ministerial posts on Saturday.

Israel has authorized Turkey to send staff and equipment to a new hospital which is under construction in the Gaza Strip following a diplomatic request from Ankara, an Israeli official said on Tuesday.

An Israeli newspaper considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the approval was a gesture aimed at thawing relations between the one-time allies which became icy following a 2010 Israeli raid on a ship seeking to break the Jewish state's Gaza blockade, in which nine Turkish activists were killed.

"The real revolution in Syria is over, we have been betrayed," laments a bitter Abu Mahmoud, a respected rebel leader, accusing fellow commanders of marring a "beautiful" revolt through corruption.

"Our beautiful revolution has been confiscated by thieves and corruptors," Abu Mahmoud tells Agence France Presse as he struggles to hide his bitterness at the way the revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime is being fought these days.

Baghdad said Tuesday it has authorized the justice minister to sign a prisoner swap deal with Britain that could see a British security guard convicted of murder in Iraq head home to serve the rest of his life sentence.

Justice Minister Hassan al-Shammari and British officials have been discussing the deal, which would allow the transfer of convicts between the two countries, since at least January.

Iran on Tuesday scorned as a "laughing matter" comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Tehran is moving closer to making a nuclear bomb.

"The claim of the Zionist regime, is a laughing matter," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly news conference.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that a powerful blast in a minibus on the Syrian border which killed 14 people was a bomb attack.

"A vehicle loaded with bombs was able to reach our customs gate because the customs gate on the Syrian side is not working and is not being controlled," Erdogan told parliament after Monday's incident.

Saudi Arabia beheaded one of its nationals on Tuesday in the southwestern Aseer region after he was convicted of murdering a fellow citizen, the interior ministry announced.

Mohammed al-Qahtani shot dead Mueed al-Qahtani during a fight between the two, the ministry said in a statement carried by state news agency SPA.