Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, struggling to defuse the biggest-ever challenge to his rule, axed the widely-hated Habib al-Adly as interior minister on Monday as he rolled out a new government that was swiftly rejected by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

On day seven of mass protests demanding the end of Mubarak's regime, state television showed new cabinet ministers being sworn in and shaking hands with the man who has ruled Egypt for three decades.

Europe demanded "free and fair" elections in Egypt on Monday as it sought to respond to pressure to speak up on the turmoil sweeping Arab nations on its volatile southern flank.

With Egypt seen as key to stability across the Middle East, European Union foreign ministers demanded President Hosni Mubarak kickstart an "orderly transition" that stopped short of asking him to step down.

Israel has told its diplomats in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to encourage their host nations to support the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, daily Haaretz reported Monday.

The newspaper said Israel's foreign ministry told its diplomats to stress that it is in "the interest of the West" and of "the entire Middle East to maintain the stability of the regime in Egypt."

Egyptian protesters on Monday called for an indefinite general strike and said they planned a "million man march" on Tuesday to mark one week since the start of deadly anti-government protests.

"It was decided overnight that there will be a million man march on Tuesday," Eid Mohammed, one of the protesters and organizers, told Agence France Presse.

Syrian President Bashar Assad said he was pleased with the “smooth transition” between the two Lebanese governments, unveiling that any conflict would have evolved into civil war in Lebanon.

"What pleases me is that this transition between the two governments happened smoothly, because we were worried," Assad told The Wall Street Journal in a rare interview published Monday.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups have authorized leading dissident Mohammed ElBaradei to negotiate with embattled President Hosni Mubarak's regime, an Islamist leader said Sunday.

The National Coalition for Change, which groups several opposition movements including the banned Brotherhood around ElBaradei, has authorized the Nobel peace laureate with "negotiating with the authorities," Saad al-Katatni told AFP.

More than 200 people rallied outside the Egyptian embassy in Beirut on Sunday, calling for the resignation of embattled President Hosni Mubarak as protests in Egypt raged for a sixth straight day.

"Mubarak is an Israeli puppet," and "Gamal, tell your father that the Egyptian people hate him," protesters chanted during the student-led demonstration in Beirut.

The first Middle East Airlines plane carrying 170 Lebanese nationals who were evacuated from Egypt arrived in Beirut Sunday afternoon, state-run National News Agency reported.

It said MEA planned to make two more trips to Cairo tonight to bring home more Lebanese nationals wanting to leave Egypt.

The United States started organizing Sunday the evacuation of its nationals from Egypt as an angry anti-government revolt raged into a sixth day amid increasing lawlessness and mass jail breaks.

"The U.S. embassy in Cairo informs U.S. citizens in Egypt who wish to depart that the department of state is making arrangements to provide transportation to safehaven locations in Europe," an embassy statement said, as other countries issued travel warnings and tourists scrambled for flights out.

Saudi King Abdullah has told U.S. President Barack Obama that there should be no bargaining on Egypt's stability and the security of its people, the Saudi press agency said Sunday.

SPA said that Obama phoned the king in Morocco, where he is recuperating from surgery, and that both leaders were not happy with the chaotic situation and looting.