Oman's new royal ruler has promised to follow in the footsteps of his influential predecessor, but also looks set to launch the nation on a new phase in its development, analysts say.

Both sides in Libya's conflict agreed to a ceasefire that started early Sunday following weeks of international diplomacy and calls for a truce by power-brokers Russia and Turkey.

Qatar and Iran agree that de-escalation is the "only solution" to regional tensions, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani said on Sunday after meeting Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran.

Oman's culture minister Haitham bin Tariq has been sworn in as royal ruler after the death of his cousin Sultan Qaboos, who transformed his nation and became a vital mediator in a turbulent region.

Qaboos, who died on Friday at the age of 79 as the longest-serving leader of the modern Arab world, came to power in 1970 when he deposed his father in a palace coup.

Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Mideast's longest-ruling monarch who seized power in a 1970 palace coup and pulled his Arabian sultanate into modernity while carefully balancing diplomatic ties between adversaries Iran and the U.S., has died. He was 79.

The state-run Oman News Agency announced his death early Saturday on its official Twitter account. The sultan was believed to have been in poor health and traveled to Belgium for what the court described as a medical checkup last month. The royal court declared three days of mourning.

Tunisia's parliament Friday rejected the government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Habib Jemli after months of negotiations between political parties to fill positions.

Confrontation between Washington and Tehran over the US killing of a top general and turmoil in Libya are set to dominate talks in Moscow on Saturday between the leaders of Russia and Germany.

Russia's Vladimir Putin will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Moscow on Saturday afternoon -- her first visit since May 2018 when the two leaders met at Sochi on the Black Sea.

In parts of the Middle East, Qasem Soleimani is revered as a hero. But in opposition-held Syria, the slain Iranian commander was seen as the man to kill.

"We thank God for his assassination," said Ismail al-Asali, who survived a November missile strike on the northern Syrian displacement camp of Qah where he lives.

Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi has asked the United States to send a delegation to Baghdad to begin preparing for a troop pullout, his office said on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit the Middle East from Saturday, hoping to ease soaring regional tensions after the US killing of a top Iranian general.

The trip had been thrown into doubt after Tehran responded to the attack on Qasem Soleimani by launching a barrage of missiles at bases hosting American troops in Iraq, prompting fears of an all-out war.