The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday sent the Palestinian bid to join the United Nations to a specialist committee to report on the application.

A full session of the 15-member council that lasted barely two minutes was the first public discussion of the application. The United States has vowed to veto any Palestinian bid.

Anti-Gadhafi fighters Wednesday appealed for help from NATO after being blasted by rockets fired by loyalist troops in Bani Walid, one of the ousted Libyan leader's last bastions.

Among 11 National Transitional Council fighters killed in the barrage was senior commander Daou al-Salhine al-Jadak, whose car was struck by a rocket as he headed towards the front late on Tuesday, NTC chief negotiator Abdullah Kenshil told Agence France Presse.

The treasurer of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) was one of five Islamist militants killed by Algerian troops a clash this week east of the capital, a press report said Wednesday.

The French-language daily Liberte named him as Adel Bourai, alias Ayoub, aged 27, from the Boumerdes region where the Algerian army began a major sweep late last week.

A Cairo court on Wednesday sentenced the former information minister to seven years behind bars and the former head of state TV to five years on corruption charges.

Judge Abdallah Abul Hashem ordered ex-information minister Anas al-Fikki jailed for seven years "for squandering public money."

A Bahraini special court has upheld life jail sentences served on seven Shiite opposition leaders convicted of plotting to overthrow the regime in the Gulf kingdom, BNA official news agency said.

Jail sentences against seven other activists, ranging between two to 15 years and including Sunni opposition leader Ibrahim Sharif, were also upheld by the national safety appeals court, it said quoting military general prosecutor colonel Yusof Fulaifel.

Iran has equipped its naval forces with a short range "cruise missile," able to hit targets in coastal areas and warships within "200 kilometers, the country's defense minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

"Today we are witnessing the equipping of the Guards navy and army navy with ample numbers of the Qader cruise missile," General Ahmad Vahidi said, quoted by his ministry's website referring to the elite Revolutionary Guards who are tasked with defending Iranian waters in the Gulf.

Tribesmen fighting Yemeni troops loyal to under-fire President Ali Abdullah Saleh shot down Wednesday an army warplane north of Sanaa, witnesses and tribal sources said.

The jetfighter was downed by anti-aircraft guns near Arhab, 40 kilometers north of the capital, where armed tribesmen have been locked in combat with the elite Republican Guard, led by Saleh's son Ahmed.

The United States said Tuesday it was disappointed by Israel's announced plans to build new homes for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem.

"We are deeply disappointed," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, adding the U.S. considered the move "counterproductive to our efforts to resume direct negotiations between the parties."

A judicial official says Libya's ex-prime minister has been freed from jail after an appeals court overturned his conviction for illegally entering Tunisia.

Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi was arrested Sept. 22 on charges of illegal entry after he was found without a visa as he was trying to flee across the border to Algeria. He was convicted the same day to six months in prison.

Syrian forces mounting raids on dissidents killed at least nine civilians on Tuesday, rights groups said, as Damascus accused the West of trying to break up the country with "total chaos."

And as China expressed its concern at the wider implications of the turbulence, the United States warned of signs that President Bashar al-Assad's opponents were turning to violence.