The royal pardon may have been revoked but residents of the Moroccan city of Kenitra still want to know why a man convicted of raping their children was ever released.

Spanish pedophile Daniel Galvan Vina, who lived in their midst for years, was found guilty of raping 11 children aged between four and 15, and jailed for 30 years in September 2011.

Norway has closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Jordan to the public due to threats of attacks by al-Qaida, the foreign ministry said Monday.

The Scandinavian country has also raised the security level at other diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as sensitive locations such as Nairobi, the ministry said.

Spanish police on Monday arrested a convicted pedophile who had his pardon revoked by Morocco's King Mohamed VI after it sparked angry protests in the north African country.

Daniel Galvan Vina, a Spaniard found guilty of raping 11 children aged between four and 15 in Morocco and sentenced in September 2011 to 30 years in prison there, was detained in Murcia in southeastern Spain, a Spanish interior ministry spokesman said.

Fresh protests against Tunisia's Islamist-led coalition government erupted on Monday, deepening the north African nation's political crisis as two soldiers killed by militants linked to al-Qaida were to be buried.

Police used batons and tear gas against protesters who tried to break into local government offices in the center-west city of Sidi Bouzid, cradle of the 2011 revolution.

An Egyptian soldier was shot dead and two others were wounded in two separate attacks in the Sinai Peninsula on Monday, security officials said.

Gunmen shot at an army checkpoint outside a military building in the north Sinai town of El-Arish, killing one soldier.

Iraqi forces killed six suspected al-Qaida militants during an operation north of Baghdad on Monday, while two soldiers and seven civilians died in attacks, officials said.

Security forces, who have so far failed to stem the worst violence to hit Iraq in five years, have launched operations targeting militants in various areas in recent days, including in the Baghdad region.

The Syrian colonel is still astounded. He was directing operations from the second floor of building when he heard gunfire -- rebels had penetrated his headquarters via an underground tunnel.

"One floor closer and I wouldn't be here to describe the attack," he said.

Rebels fighting troops loyal to Syria's President Bashar Assad clashed with the army Monday as they pushed an advance into the coastal province of Latakia, a monitoring group said.

The clashes in the western province come a day after rebels seized five majority Alawite villages in the area, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Iran's supreme leader on Monday appointed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Expediency Council, the country's top political arbitration body headed by an avid critic of the outgoing president.

In announcing the appointment, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Ahmadinejad's "worthy efforts" as president.

President Hassan Rowhani's cabinet lineup drew a mixed response from Iran's press Monday, with moderate and reformists papers hailing the team's breadth of experience while conservative outlets questioned the inclusion of "notorious" figures.

The male-only cabinet unveiled late on Sunday by the new president features experienced figures from across Iran's complex political spectrum.