Human Rights Watch Monday accused Syrian authorities of using "excessive force" in a crackdown on anti-regime protesters that killed five people over the past three days.

The U.S.-based rights watchdog said in a statement that "Syria should cease use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters" following the violence in Daraa, 100 kilometers south of the capital Damascus.

Bahrain has foiled a "foreign plot" to target Gulf countries, King Hamad said in a possible reference to Iran, after security forces crushed Shiite-led unrest, the state news agency reported Monday.

He said there was a "foreign plot being prepared over a period of 30, maybe 20 years... so that if it works in one of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, it could spread," the king was quoted as saying.

Embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh sacked his government on Sunday as mourners massed in Sanaa to bury many of the 52 people gunned down by his loyalists, and more regime figures quit over the killings.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the funerals in what witnesses said was the largest gathering of Saleh's opponents since protests against his autocratic regime erupted in late January.

Egyptians voted 77% in favor of the military's plans for a swift return to civilian rule after mass protests ousted president Hosni Mubarak last month, official results showed on Sunday.

They approved a package of limited changes to the Mubarak-era constitution intended to guide the Arab world's most populous nation through new presidential and parliamentary elections within six months, in a keenly fought referendum.

One person was killed and more than 100 people were wounded as Syrian security forces fired live bullets and tear gas at thousands of demonstrators in the town of Daraa on Sunday, a human rights activist at the scene said.

"The security forces backed by police fired live rounds at the demonstrators, numbering more than 10,000," the witness told Agence France Presse by telephone. "They are also firing tear gas mixed with toxic products."

Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi said Libya's people have been armed and are ready to fight a "long war" to defeat Western forces attacking his country, in a televised audio message on Sunday.

"All the Libyan people are united. The Libyan men and women have been given weapons and bombs ... You will not advance, you will not step on this land," said Gadhafi.

Yemen's human rights minister Huda al-Baan said she has resigned in protest from the government and ruling party after at least 52 people were killed in a sniper attack on demonstrators.

Baan said in a statement late Saturday that her resignation was to protest the "massacre" of demonstrators demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1978.

An Iranian cargo plane en route to Syria was forced to land in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir airport for an inspection, security forces said Sunday.

The plane, a civilian Ilyushin, landed on Saturday night on the orders of the Turkish authorities. Military fighter planes were on standby in case the plane refused to comply.

The United States, Britain and France pounded targets in Libya with airstrikes and Tomahawk missiles on Saturday, in a campaign to prevent Moammar Gadhafi from crushing a month-old uprising against his rule.

Libyan state television said a French plane was shot down, as an official in Tripoli denounced the "barbaric aggression" despite its announcement of a ceasefire in a month-long showdown against rebels.

Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are the Arab nations attending Saturday's summit in Paris on action in Libya, a diplomat told Agence France Presse.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari will also attend in his capacity as current head of the Arab League. The League's Secretary General Amr Moussa will also take part.