U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday the possible Palestinian drive for national recognition at the United Nations was a "mistake", in his most direct criticism yet of the campaign.

Obama also urged Israel and the Palestinians to make "wrenching compromise" for a peace deal after a week of acrimony left prospects of a final settlement more distant than ever.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday slammed a speech by Israel's prime minister and said the Palestinians would seek U.N. recognition if peace talks don't resume.

"Our first choice is negotiations, but if there is no progress before September we will go to the United Nations," Abbas said, criticizing a speech by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday.

Turkey is ready to help any initiative to end Libya's turmoil but has had no contact so far with South Africa's leader on an exit strategy for Moammar Gadhafi, a government official said Wednesday.

"We have had no particular dialogue (with South Africa) so far but it does not mean that we will not have any in the future," the foreign ministry official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

Tribesmen loyal to a powerful opposition chief have taken control of state news agency Saba in Sanaa, a high-ranking official and witnesses said on Wednesday, as fighting in the Yemeni capital resumed.

Clashes between security forces and Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar's tribesmen broke out in Sanaa on Monday and have left at least 44 people dead, according to an Agence France Presse tally based on reports by medics, the government and tribesmen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cheering U.S. Congress on Tuesday he was willing to make "painful compromises" for peace with the Palestinians, but he offered little concrete to entice Palestinians back to the bargaining table.

By giving such a high-profile speech before overwhelmingly supportive U.S. lawmakers, Netanyahu was able to demonstrate to Israelis that he retains strong backing in the United States despite his frosty relations with President Barack Obama.

The United States on Tuesday announced it is imposing sanctions against seven foreign firms, including Venezuelan, Singaporean, and Israeli companies, as part of efforts to check Iran's nuclear ambitions.

It also imposed sanctions against 16 other foreign firms and individuals, including from China, over trade with Iran, Syria and North Korea in goods or technology that may be used for weapons of mass destruction or missiles.

Ousted Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak and his two sons were on Tuesday referred to a criminal court on suspicion of graft and ordering deadly fire against anti-government protesters, state media reported.

The official MENA news agency said the 83-year-old former strongman and his two sons Alaa and Gamal have been charged with "premeditated murder of some participants in the peaceful protests of the January 25 revolution".

This week marks a new decade for Naharnet as it bids farewell to its 10-year-old website and enters a new era with a groundbreaking Content Management Platform completely built in-house.

The initial Naharnet 2.0 website will slowly develop into a new environment that will redefine Naharnet as a digital and social media destination for the Lebanese and Arabs across the world.

Shelling in Yemen's capital killed five supporters of a powerful chieftain on Tuesday, his tribe said, as clashes intensified between embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces and tribesmen seeking his ouster.

In the second successive day of fighting, a source close to tribal chief Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar told Agence France Presse that "an armored vehicle stationed near the interior ministry fired shells and killed five people" outside his home.

President Barack Obama is a "pawn" who cannot save Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, in a speech broadcast live on state television.

"You are a pawn who has been given a mission to save American and the Zionist regime but of course you won't be able to do it," Ahmadinejad said, addressing the U.S. president.