French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Wednesday demanded "more ambitious and bolder" action from Syria after President Bashar Assad decreed a general amnesty for political prisoners.

"I fear that it might already be too late," Juppe told France Culture radio after the Syrian leader announced the amnesty following two months of deadly anti-government protests.

The Sanaa headquarters of dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar was hit by two shells late on Tuesday during clashes between government forces and fighters loyal to Yemen's most powerful tribal leader, a source close to the general said.

"Two shells hit the headquarters of the First Armored Division," commanded by General Mohsen, the source said.

Libya Tuesday accused NATO of killing 718 civilians and wounding 4,067 in 10 weeks of air strikes, as African efforts for a truce stalled and Italy said Moammar Gadhafi's regime is "finished."

The toll of dead and injured was given at a news conference in Tripoli by government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, who also warned the departure of Gadhafi would be a "worst case scenario" for Libya.

Three civilians were shot dead on Tuesday by Syrian security forces at Rastan in the center of the country and in the southern region of Daraa, a rights activist said on condition of anonymity.

"Ibrahim Salhum was killed today at Rastan" near the city of Homs, as the military attempted to quell anti-regime protest there for the third straight day, the activist said.

China voiced support on Tuesday for Syria's stability and said a U.N. Security Council resolution on the nation was unlikely to ease tensions there.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad is currently in Beijing and is slated to hold talks with Chinese Foreign Ministry Yang Jiechi, ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told journalists.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday decreed a general amnesty for Muslim Brotherhood members and political prisoners after two months of deadly anti-regime protests, the official SANA news agency reported.

"President Assad has by decree issued an amnesty on all crimes committed before May 31, 2011," it reported. "The amnesty applies to all political prisoners as well as to the Muslim Brotherhood."

Iran is "optimistic" about boosting ties with Egypt, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi was reported as saying Tuesday after Cairo expelled an Iranian diplomat on suspicion of spying.

"We are optimistic about the future of ties between the two countries," Salehi was quoted as saying by state television's website

Bahrain's King Hamad called on Tuesday for a national dialogue to begin on July 1, as the authorities readied to lift a state of emergency enacted during a crackdown on demonstrators, BNA state news agency said.

"I appeal to the executive and legislature to convene a dialogue of national consensus," the king was quoted as telling a group of journalists.

Moammar Gadhafi's regime is "finished," Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday in the Libyan rebel stronghold after NATO warplanes struck Tripoli and African efforts for a ceasefire stalled.

"The Gadhafi regime is finished, he must leave office, he must leave the country," Franco Frattini told a joint news conference in Benghazi with Ali al-Essawi, the rebels' foreign affairs chief.

Eleven Yemeni soldiers were killed in two attacks by alleged al-Qaida fighters on Tuesday, and another two soldiers died of wounds sustained previously, security officials and medics said.

Six soldiers were killed and eight wounded in the first attack, which was on the Dofas military checkpoint about a kilometer from Abyan province's capital Zinjibar, a security official and a medic said.