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Muslim Brotherhood Member Shot Dead in Libya

A Muslim Brotherhood official and member of the local council from Misrata shot dead as he left a mosque in the Libyan city, a local source told Agence France Presse on Sunday.

"Sheikh Mohamed bin Othman was shot dead as he left a mosque after prayers" on Saturday, the source said on the condition of anonymity.

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Tunisian President Delays Gaza Visit

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki has decided to postpone a visit to Gaza until the end of March so as not to impede with Palestinian reconciliation efforts, his office announced on Sunday.

It said the delay to the visit planned for February 9 was agreed at a meeting between Marzouki and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Addis Ababa on the sidelines of an African Union summit.

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Police Bar Egypt Interior Minister from Attending Colleagues Funeral

Angry anti-riot policemen on Sunday barred Egypt's interior minister from attending the funeral of two colleagues killed in clashes in the city of Port Said, the official news agency MENA reported.

It said dozens of policemen prevented Mohammed Ibrahim from entering the Cairo mosque where the funerals were held for the two killed in clashes with demonstrators on Saturday.

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U.N. Backs Yemen Transition, Thousands Protest Saleh Immunity

A Security Council team pledged support for Yemen's political transition in a rare visit to Sanaa Sunday that drew thousands to the streets to demand the scrapping of immunity for ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh under a U.N.-backed deal.

The brief visit by a delegation of representatives from the council's 15 members is to "support the political transition" led by President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi, British representative Mark Lyall Grant told reporters in the capital.

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UAE to Put on Trial 94 Islamists

The United Arab Emirates is to put on trial 94 Islamists accused of plotting against the Gulf state, attorney general Salem Kobaish announced on Sunday.

He said the accused, whose arrests were announced in July, will go on trial for "having created and led a movement aimed at opposing the basic foundations on which the state's political system is built and at seizing power."

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Medvedev Says Assad Committed 'Grave, Perhaps Fatal Error' by Delaying Reforms

President Bashar Assad's chances of political survival are shrinking by the day, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev charged on Sunday, accusing the embattled Syrian leader of making a possibly fatal error in delaying reforms.

"He should have acted much more quickly and reached out to the peaceful opposition which was ready to sit at the negotiating table with him," Russian news agencies quoted Medvedev as saying.

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Syria Pledges to End Opposition Prosecutions

Syria's high judicial council has announced a suspension of prosecutions of opposition members so they can join a national dialogue, state media reported Sunday, without detailing the nature of crimes affected by the ruling.

The report comes after Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar had earlier vowed to ease the return of Syrian opposition members living in exile so that they too can take part in the dialogue proposed by President Bashar Assad on January 6.

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French Defense Minister Discusses Mali in Saudi Arabia

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday discussed with the Saudi crown prince his country's intervention in Mali and military cooperation between Paris and Riyadh, a French diplomat told Agence France Presse.

"The meeting focused on the intervention in Mali" and both men also "discussed (the situation in) Syria, Iran and Yemen," the diplomat said, adding the visit was planned before French intervention in Mali that began this month.

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3 Dead, 433 Hurt as Riots Rock Egypt's Port Said for a 2nd Day

Three people died and more than 400 were hurt in Egypt's Port Said on Sunday as rioting sparked by death sentences passed on fans of a local football team rocked the canal city for a second straight day.

Crowds attempted to storm three police stations and others torched a social club belonging to the armed forces, looting items inside, security officials said.

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Netanyahu Wants Broad Coalition to Handle 'Security Threats'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he would seek a broad and stable coalition to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions and the possible transfer of Syrian weapons.

"The entire region is raging and we must be prepared, strong, and determined in the face of any possible development," he told his cabinet ahead of its weekly meeting.

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