Syrian security forces killed three civilians and arrested dozens more on Saturday, activists said, while state media was mum about the death of ex-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the third Arab leader overthrown by popular revolts this year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the "killings and massacre" in Syria in an interview with CNN, in the Islamic republic's strongest criticism of its neighbor’s deadly repression of protests calling for greater freedom and the fall of the Assad regime.

Iraqis voiced happiness on Saturday over President Barack Obama's declaration that U.S. forces will leave by year-end, but some spoke of concern the pullout could further destabilize their country.

The decision to withdraw all remaining soldiers in the country after nearly nine years of war, and the deaths of more than 4,400 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis, came after Baghdad and Washington failed to agree to legal immunity for a training mission past 2011.

Fierce clashes erupted in the Yemeni capital between troops loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh and rival forces on Saturday, a day after the U.N. urged the embattled leader to hand over power.

Witnesses and AFP correspondents in Sanaa said explosions were heard throughout Sanaa from early hours and massive plumes of smoke and fire seen rising from several neighborhoods where opposition forces are stationed.

Military commanders in the Libyan city of Misrata said Saturday that no post-mortem would be carried out on the body of Moammar Gadhafi despite concerns over how the ousted strongman died.

"There will be no post-mortem today, nor any day," Misrata military council spokesman Fathi al-Bashaagha told AFP.

Tunisian voters on Saturday weighed their choices on the eve of the Arab Spring's historic first elections nine months after the surprise toppling of strongman Zine el Abidine Ben Ali that started it all.

Campaigning ended at midnight for the vote the previously banned Islamist al-Nahda party is tipped to win, with the ISIE independent polling commission reminding candidates and journalists that Saturday would be an "election silence day".

Faced with suspicions of an execution by a lynch mob, the order that "nobody here killed Gadhafi" has gone around to the fighters who captured alive the ex-strongman of Libya.

The fighters at a farm on the outskirts of the city of Misrata that serves as their al-Ghiran brigade base proudly exhibit the ousted leader's black boots, gold-plated gun and beige scarf.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the "killings and massacre" in key ally Syria, which has carried out a bloody crackdown on seven months of protests, in an interview with CNN.

"We condemn killings and massacre in Syria, whether it is security forces being killed or people and the opposition," Ahmadinejad said, according to excerpts of the interview reported in Farsi by the website of Iran's state broadcaster on Saturday.

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, whose death was announced on Saturday, was the oil kingpin's defense chief for nearly half a century but was also renowned for his extravagant living and largesse.

A half-brother of King Abdullah, he served as deputy prime minister, and defense and aviation minister from 1962, and was famed among Saudis for his regular, well-publicized acts of largesse, but also for reports that he had benefited massively from government arms purchases.

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz has died, a palace announcement on state television said on Saturday, throwing his brother Prince Nayef into line to succeed King Abdullah as leader of the key oil producer.

The crown prince, aged around 86, who had served as the kingdom's defense chief for nearly five decades, had been in the United States since mid-June for medical treatment. He was operated on in July but no information had been released on his health since then.

NATO plans to end its seven-month air and sea mission in Libya on October 31, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday.

"Our operations are close to completion," Rasmussen said after lengthy talks with ambassadors from the 28-member alliance. There is "a preliminary agreement on the 31st of October."