Arab foreign ministers are to hold crisis talks on Saturday to discuss imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, Arab League officials said, as Libyan jets keep up near daily strikes to crush a rebellion.

The meeting was initially scheduled for Friday, but was postponed a day after requests from several foreign ministers, deputy secretary general Ahmed Ben Hilli told reporters.

Libya's air force stepped up air strikes and heavy shelling was heard on Tuesday on the front line, as the revolt against Moammar Gadhafi's regime entered its third week amid mounting calls for a no-fly zone over the country.

As the violence escalated, the Arab League said foreign ministers of its member states would meet on Saturday for crisis talks on the situation, a day later than originally announced.

Tunisia's newly legalized Islamist movement said Tuesday it supported the country's ban on polygamy but urged the government to lift one on wearing headscarves in schools and universities.

Ennahda (Awakening) was legalized this month for the first time in the 30 years of its existence after the interim government that replaced the toppled Zine El Abidine Ben Ali regime introduced unprecedented reforms.

Rebels said Tuesday they rejected a mediator's offer of talks with Moammar Gadhafi and demanded that he leaves the country, while the strongman's regime dismissed as "rubbish" any suggestion of an approach from the Libyan leader.

Although it was unclear whether the issue was raised of immunity for the man who has ruled Libya with an iron fist for four decades, the head of the rebels' provisional national council told Agence France Presse they would not pursue criminal charges if Gadhafi quits.

Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a bitter opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saw his influence fade Tuesday when he abandoned one of his last two key regime posts.

State television and news agencies said conservative ex-premier Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani, 80, was elected as new head of the Assembly of Experts, the 86-member body which selects the supreme leader, supervises his activities and can dismiss him.

Britain will upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation to London to the level of a mission in line with a number of other EU countries, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

"Given the extent of our aid to the Palestinian Authority and our work with them, we will join many other countries in upgrading the status of the Palestinian delegation to London to the level of a mission," he told parliament.

Gulf Arab states announced their support for imposing a no-fly zone over Libya in a statement on Monday, amid divisions among the major powers over military intervention in the North African nation.

"The Gulf Cooperation Council demands that the U.N. Security Council take all necessary measures to protect civilians, including enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya," the six-nation bloc's statement said.

Iran and Syria found themselves in the spotlight Monday as the U.N. nuclear watchdog convened for its traditional week-long spring meeting.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-member board of governors was set to discuss two new reports showing little or no progress in the watchdog's long-running investigations into Iran's controversial atomic program and allegations of illicit nuclear activity on the part of Syria.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague confirmed Monday that Britain was working to draft a U.N. resolution on a no-fly zone over Libya to counter Moammar Gadhafi's offensive against rebels, but said it must have regional support and a "clear legal basis".

"At the U.N. Security Council we are working closely with partners on a contingency basis on elements of a resolution on a no-fly zone, making clear the need for regional support, a clear trigger for such a resolution and an appropriate legal basis," Hague told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

A few hundred people, mainly youths, attended a quickly improvised pro-democracy rally in front of the Moroccan parliament Sunday, calling for the rule of law and radical political reform.

The demonstration, called on social networking site Facebook, was backed by human rights activists who gathered in central Rabat before heading for the parliament building.