U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed the "courage" and "aspirations" of anti-government protests in Iran on Monday, and pressed Tehran to follow Egypt's example and "open up" its political system.

"We wish the opposition and the brave people in the streets across cities in Iran the same opportunity that they saw their Egyptian counterparts seize in the last week," Clinton told reporters during a visit to the U.S. Congress.

Egypt's new military regime on Monday called on workers to end a wave of strikes and civil disobedience that has threatened to paralyze the country in the wake of the fall of Hosni Mubarak's government.

In its latest announcement since it took power Friday, the Supreme Council of the Armed forces urged labor leaders to call off their action, but stopped short of issuing a decree banning them, as it had been rumored it would do.

Hundreds of Iranian protesters on Monday attempted to stage scattered demonstrations in Tehran said to be in support of Arab revolts as scores of policemen moved to disperse them, witnesses said.

A witness said crowds of protesters were seen at Tehran's key areas such as Haft-e Tir Square, Karim Khan Avenue, Ferdowsi Square, Hafez street, while another said similar crowds were walking from Imam Hussein Square to Enghelab Square.

Bahraini police used tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters Monday in the eastern village of Nuwaidrat, police said, as security forces deployed in the tiny Gulf kingdom following Facebook calls for a February 14 "revolt."

Security forces used tear gas to disperse protesters taking part in an "unauthorized" demonstration, a police official said, adding that no arrests were made.

Arab leaders will hold their annual summit in Baghdad on March 29, officials said Monday, in defiance of threats by Islamist insurgents waging a campaign against countries planning to take part.

The meeting also comes at a critical time for the region's mainly autocratic leaders, after two popular uprisings ousted two Arab presidents in less than two months amid mounting calls for political and economic reform.

A Boeing Emirates 777 traveling from Dubai to New York with 361 passengers on board made an emergency landing in Stockholm early Monday after smoke was detected in the cabin, an airport spokesman said.

"They had an indication of smoke in the cabin ... It could have been someone smoking in the toilets," Anders Bredfell of Stockholm's Arlanda airport told Agence France Presse.

Iranian police Monday blocked access to the house of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and cut his telephone lines to prevent him attending a rally in support of Arab revolts, his website said.

"Security forces have sent police vans and vehicles to the alley where the house of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard is located" in Tehran, Kaleme.com reported.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday reappointed Salam Fayyad as premier and tasked him with forming a new government after his cabinet resigned, an official said.

"Abbas reappointed Fayyad and asked him to form a new government," a senior official in the president's office told Agence France Presse shortly after Fayyad's cabinet resigned en masse.

Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi has urged Palestinian refugees to take advantage of current unrest sweeping across the Arab world and stage a march on the Palestinian territories.

"In the context of the popular Arab revolutionary movement, the Palestinian refugees... must march on Palestine, along with their families," he said in a speech to thousands of supporters marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.

King Abdullah II met on Sunday with the top U.S. military commander who is visiting key allies Jordan and Israel to reaffirm Washington's support following the fall of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

The king and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen "discussed bilateral cooperation and a number of issues of common concern," a brief palace statement said without elaborating.