In response to the region's unprecedented upheaval, Gulf Cooperation Council chief Abdul Latif al-Zayani said Tuesday that the group's six members agreed to "adopt Saudi King Abdullah's initiative to make the GCC countries a single entity."

King Abdullah on Monday asked the GCC leadership to "move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union," arguing the region's "security and stability are threatened" and that such challenges require "vigilance and a united stance."

Iraq's Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said on Tuesday he was "ready to face trial" on terror charges on condition that the case be heard in the autonomous Kurdish region.

"I suggest transferring the case to Kurdistan," Hashemi told a news conference in the Kurdish regional capital Arbil. "On this basis, I will be ready to face trial."

Representatives of all the Palestinian factions began meeting in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss ways of implementing a stalled reconciliation deal, delegates said.

But officials played down expectations of a breakthrough, with Fatah delegation head Azzam al-Ahmed telling Agence France Presse he did not expect any agreement on the key issues of security and an interim government "before the end of January."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for talks with rival political leaders on Tuesday to head off a worsening crisis since an arrest warrant was issued for the Sunni vice president, an aide said.

"Maliki is calling for a conference of heads of political blocs and political leaders to discuss their differences, and to sort out the current security and political crisis," Ali Mussawi, media adviser to the premier, told Agence France Presse.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has signed into effect a law imposing the death penalty on anyone arming "terrorists", state media said on Tuesday amid mounting clashes with rebel troops.

"The law provides for the death penalty for anyone providing weapons or helping to provide weapons intended for the carrying out of terrorist acts," the official SANA news agency said.

Fresh fighting between suspected al-Qaida militants and army troops in Yemen's restive Abyan province have killed two soldiers and 13 Islamists, military officials said on Tuesday.

During Monday's clashes in southern Yemen the army fired artillery rounds on positions held by fighters of the al-Qaida linked Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) group, killing 13 Islamists, the officials said.

Syria will be judged by actions rather than words, Germany's foreign minister said Tuesday, urging Damascus to immediately implement an accord to allow Arab observers to monitor a deal ending a nine-month protest crackdown.

Guido Westerwelle, Germany's top diplomat, noted that Syria had broken promises in the past.

Clashes between Egyptian security forces and protesters demanding an end to military rule entered a fifth day on Tuesday, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced the beating of women as a "disgrace."

Riot police used rocks, batons and live bullets to disperse protesters through the night and into the morning, witnesses said, in violence that has left 12 people dead since Friday.

Representatives of Syria's opposition will visit Iraq next week as part of Baghdad's efforts to end nine months of unrest in the country, National Security Adviser Falah al-Fayadh said on Monday.

"The Syrian opposition will visit Iraq next week," Fayadh told state broadcaster Al-Iraqiyah TV. He did not give any further details of the visit.

The U.N. General Assembly on Monday passed a resolution condemning human rights in Syria where a government crackdown on protests has left more than 5,000 dead, according to U.N. estimates.

The resolution was passed with 133 countries in favor, 11 against, with 43 abstentions. Syria's U.N. ambassador said the resolution was part of a "devilish" plot against his country.