Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s son and onetime heir apparent Seif al-Islam was on Tuesday poised to cross into Niger along with his father's ex-intelligence chief, a Tuareg official said.

The two are the top most wanted fugitives from the slain despot's ousted circle, who are wanted by the International Criminal Court and had been widely expected to seek refuge in Niger following Gadhafi’s death last week.

NATO reacted cautiously Tuesday to a request from Libya's new regime to maintain air operations a month longer than planned as the alliance indicated that consultations were still ongoing.

"NATO said it would closely consult with the U.N. and the NTC (National Transitional Council) before making a final decision," a NATO official said on condition of anonymity.

Seven security agents were killed in an attack on their road convoy in northwest Syria on Tuesday, apparently carried out by army deserters, a rights group said.

"Armed men, suspected deserters, attacked a security forces convoy at the entrance to Maaret al-Noman town in Idlib province, killing seven agents, including an officer," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

World leaders, including rival Iran's foreign minister, poured into Riyadh to offer condolences on the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz who was buried on Tuesday in the presence of an ailing King Abdullah.

While his successor has yet to be named, the body of Sultan, who died on Saturday in a New York hospital, has been repatriated to Riyadh for the funeral.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday urged the Libyan people to work together to prevent Western powers from taking control of their country and plundering its wealth.

"Their first objective is to take control of Libya and (then) attempt to impose non-revolutionary and non-popular rulers on its people," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television from South Khorasan province.

Jordan's opposition Islamists said on Tuesday the new government's line-up did not meet people's "aspirations and hopes" for reform, a day after the cabinet led by judge Awn Khasawneh took office.

"The new government's composition was not up to the inspirations and hopes of people," said Ali Abu Sukkar, head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF)'s shura council, in a statement carried by the group's website.

Embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad's exiled uncle has arrived in Riyadh to offer his condolences over the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi news agency SPA said Tuesday.

"Rifaat Assad, uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has arrived in Riyadh to offer his condolences to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz," said SPA.

A 29-year-old Palestinian man was killed when a tunnel running underneath the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed, Palestinian medics said on Tuesday.

The man was identified as Ahmed Arbea, from the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis. Eyewitnesses said he was involved in smuggling through some of the many tunnels that connect the coastal territory to Egypt.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Tuesday urged MPs and the government to end their bitter feuding saying opposition protests have "exceeded all limits."

"I am pained by the suffering of our nation from the continuous disputes between parliament and the government," the emir said in a speech at the opening of a new parliamentary session.

Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, will attend the funeral Tuesday of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the website of Iranian state television reported.

"Mr. Salehi will leave Tehran for Riyadh, leading a high-ranking delegation, to attend the funeral of Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz," Hassan Ghashghavi, a deputy foreign minister, told the broadcaster.