Unknown attackers attempted to torch a West Bank mosque and sprayed it with Hebrew-language graffiti early on Tuesday, in an incident that bore the hallmark of extremist Jewish settlers.

"In the middle of the night ... somebody entered the mosque, broke the window and threw a match causing a fire," a resident of the village of Jaba, between Jerusalem and Ramallah told Israeli army radio.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday called for an end to violence in Syria and said its people should be allowed to democratically decide their future.

Egypt's parliament still has the power to legislate, the Muslim Brotherhood's political arm said on Monday, despite the ruling military's decision to take back power after a court annulled the body.

"The parliament remains valid and holds legislative power and control," the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said hours after the Brotherhood declared its candidate, Mohammed Mursi, had won presidential elections.

Two Palestinians were killed in a second Israeli air strike on the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun on Monday, raising the overall toll to four dead, Palestinian medical officials said.

The Pentagon expressed serious concern Monday after the Egyptian military declared sweeping new powers just as ballots were being counted in a pivotal presidential vote.

"We're deeply concerned about new amendments to the constitution declaration, including the timing of their announcements as polls were closing for the presidential election," spokesman George Little told reporters.

Bombings in Iraq, including one targeting the deputy head of a Shiite religious foundation, killed two people and wounded five on Monday, officials said.

Sami al-Massudi, the deputy head of the Shiite endowment which oversees Shiite religious sites in Iraq, said a roadside bomb hit his convoy at about 12:15 pm (0915 GMT) in the Saidiyah area of south Baghdad.

The attack came as Sami al-Massudi, the deputy head of the Shiite endowment which oversees Shiite religious sites in Iraq, said a roadside bomb hit his convoy at about 12:15 pm (0915 GMT) in the Saidiyah area of south Baghdad.

Massudi said the bomb, which wounded three of his bodyguards, hit the middle vehicle in his convoy.

Syria's opposition is to meet in Brussels this weekend in EU-sponsored talks aimed at forging more unity among opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime, an EU spokesman said Monday.

The talks will gather the main opposition groups, including the Syrian National Council, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, the Kurdish National Council and the Democratic Forum, the spokesman said.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Monday issued a royal decree naming his half-brother Prince Salman as heir to the throne following the death of crown prince Nayef.

The monarch appointed Salman "crown prince and deputy prime minister" while also keeping him on as defense minister, said the decree published by the state news agency SPA.

France denounced a deadly strike on Israel Monday by militants who had sneaked across the Egyptian border and urged restraint by all parties to prevent a spike in tensions.

An Israeli civilian was killed in the ambush, which sparked a firefight that left at least two gunmen dead. It mirrored a strike in August 2011 in which gunmen from Sinai staged ambushes in southern Israel, killing eight.