The grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called on Egyptian police on Wednesday not to shoot at protesters demanding democratic change as four more people died in clashes.

As thousands rallied for a fifth straight day in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, epicenter of the Arab Spring uprising which overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February, an opinion poll found that 43 percent of Egyptians thought the ruling military was trying to slow down or reverse its gains.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah signed a deal on Wednesday to hand over his powers after 33 years in office which Saudi King Abdullah hailed as marking a "new page" in the impoverished country's history.

Live footage of the ceremony aired by Saudi state television showed Saleh ink the Gulf- and U.N.-brokered agreement in Riyadh's Al-Yamama royal palace watched over by members of the Yemeni opposition as well as King Abdullah and Gulf foreign ministers.

A new government line-up in Tripoli drew praise from Washington Wednesday as a "significant step" towards democracy but barbs from Libya's regions highlighted the challenge of unity after 42 years of dictatorship.

Areas of the vast desert country that played major roles in the eight-month uprising which overthrew Moammar Gadhafi's regime complained of "marginalization" in the long-awaited interim cabinet unveiled late on Tuesday.

Bahrain's king vowed reforms on Wednesday after a commission of inquiry found that his security forces used "excessive force" and tortured detainees in a March crackdown on Shiite-led protests.

King Hamad commissioned the report to investigate allegations of government misconduct and human rights abuses against protesters, democracy activists, and opposition figures.

Libya has priority to try the most prominent son of deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Wednesday.

On an official visit to Tripoli, Moreno-Ocampo said Libya had every right to try Seif al-Islam, arrested last week.

Three more people died in Cairo on Wednesday, a medic said, as violence which has killed dozens raged into a fifth day despite promises by Egypt's military ruler to speed up the transition to democracy.

Clashes broke out in Mohammed Mahmoud street, just off Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, where thousands of protesters rallied again on Wednesday to demand an immediate end to military rule.

Bahraini police clashed with protesters in at least two Shiite villages as tensions escalated ahead of Wednesday's release of a report on government misconduct during a protest crackdown, activists said.

Early morning protests erupted in village of Aali on the outskirts of the capital Manama, where rights activists and an Agence France Presse correspondent said police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators.

Kuwaiti police Wednesday arrested at least one opposition activist over charges of storming parliament while other activists began surrendering voluntarily, their lawyer said.

"Police arrested youth activist Youssef al-Shatti at Kuwait Airport this morning," coordinator of the opposition defense team al-Humaidi al-Subaie told Agence France Presse.

Syria has reached a "point of no return" in the regime's crackdown on opposition demonstrators, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday during his state visit to Britain.

"Unfortunately Syria has come to a point of no return," Gul said in a speech, adding that the whole region could be dragged into "turmoil and bloodshed" by the crisis.

The U.N. human rights chief called Wednesday for an independent probe into the killing of protesters by Egypt's military and security forces.

"I urge the Egyptian authorities to end the clearly excessive use of force against protesters in Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country, including the apparent improper use of tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition," said Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.