United Nations Security Council diplomats began negotiations Tuesday on a British-drafted resolution that would demand an immediate ceasefire in Libya after forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive on Tripoli.

The head of Algeria's constitutional council stepped down Tuesday after weeks facing the ire of protesters, state television reported.

Tayeb Belaiz informed the council, which will play a key role in upcoming presidential elections, that "he presented his resignation... to the head of state".

Bahrain on Tuesday jailed 138 people and revoked their citizenship for plotting to form a "terror" group with links to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, the public prosecutor said.

The head of Algeria's constitutional council stepped down Tuesday after weeks facing the ire of protesters, state television reported.

Egypt's parliament, packed with loyalists of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is to vote Tuesday on changes to the constitution that could keep the former military chief in power until 2030.

The proposed amendments were initially introduced in February by a parliamentary bloc supportive of Sisi and updated this week after several rounds of parliamentary debates.

Sudanese troops participating in a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen will remain in the war-wracked country until the Arab alliance achieves its goals, a senior Sudanese military official said Monday.

Emotion filled the voice of Mustapha Bouchachi as the Algerian veteran lawyer and human rights activist recalled the peaceful mass protests that swept aside President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

After decades of conflict, Iraq is seeking to reclaim a leadership role and status in the Arab world with a centrist policy and a determination among the country's top leaders to maintain good relations with both Iran and the United States.

A flurry of recent diplomatic activity and high-profile visits to the Iraqi capital, including this month's re-opening of a Saudi Consulate in Baghdad — for the first time in nearly 30 years — points to a new era of openness as the nation sheds its war image and re-engages with the world.

A New Zealand nurse believed abducted with two drivers by Islamic State militants in Syria in 2013 may still be alive, the International Committee of the Red Cross has revealed for the first time in an appeal for news of her whereabouts.

The US, French and British navies have launched anti-mine exercises off Bahrain in support of the free movement of trade in Gulf waters, a military spokeswoman said Monday. 

"As mines threaten maritime traffic indiscriminately, the US, France and United Kingdom are dedicated to conducting tactical training to counter the risk of mines in order to support the continued free flow of commerce and freedom of navigation in this critical region," said the US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain.