A Yemeni military commission began returning the capital to normality Saturday, removing checkpoints and barricades erected during months of deadly protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Bulldozers were seen removing sand berms thrown up by the pro-Saleh Central Security service at the Asser roundabout, under the supervision of members of the joint commission formed by the new opposition-led government, an Agence France Presse correspondent reported.

Thousands of Tunisians rallied on Saturday to commemorate a young fruitseller's desperate gesture a year ago which unleashed the pioneering revolution of the Arab Spring.

Newly-elected President Moncef Marzouki joined the crowds in the town of Sidi Bouzid, where Mohamed Bouazizi's altercation with a policewoman and his subsequent self-immolation set off a wave of protests that toppled long-standing dictators and dramatically changed the Arab world.

The Arab League on Saturday threatened to take Syria to the U.N. over its deadly crackdown on dissent but an Iraqi mediator said he had "positive" talks in Syria aimed at defusing the nine-month crisis.

The Qatari prime minister warned that the Arab League would take Syria to the U.N. Security Council if it persisted in refusing to allow observers into the country to monitor the protection of civilians.

Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri on Saturday accused protesters who engaged in deadly clashes with security forces in Cairo a day earlier of being counter-revolutionaries.

"Those who are in Tahrir Square (epicenter of the revolution that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February) are not the youth of the revolution," Ganzuri told a press conference.

An Iraqi team held "positive" talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday in a bid to end the deadlock over an Arab League plan to stop nine months of bloodshed, its leader told Agence France Presse.

"I am on my way to Cairo for a meeting with the Arab League after holding positive talks with President Assad," National Security Adviser Falah al-Fayadh said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Tripoli Saturday on the first visit to Libya by a Pentagon chief to study up close the security needs of the new government.

During the visit, which will last only a few hours, Panetta will meet with Defense Minister Osama Jouili and Prime Minister Abdul Rahim al-Kib, said an AFP correspondent traveling with him.

Violence raged in the administrative heart of Egypt's capital on Saturday as troops and police deployed in force after clashes with protesters against continued military rule left nine people dead.

Smoke billowed over Tahrir Square, the iconic focus of the protest movement that overthrew veteran president Hosni Mubarak in February, after two nearby government offices caught fire, an Agence France Presse correspondent said.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian in the Gaza Strip overnight after firing in the direction of an explosion near the border, the army and medics said on Saturday.

Majed al-Nabahin, 35, was killed near the al-Bureij refugee camp, hospital sources said.

The Arab League expects the Damascus regime to sign up "soon" to an observer mission intended to monitor the protection of civilians, the bloc's number two Ahmed Ben Helli said on Saturday.

"There are positive signs... I expect the signing will happen soon," Ahmed Ben Helli told AFP ahead of a meeting of an Arab League ministerial commission in Qatar.

The United States said Friday it was lifting 'most' U.S. sanctions against Libya and unfreezing $30 billion in assets, but kept holdings of former strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s family blocked.

The move followed similar action by the United Nations Security Council as the world seeks to help the fledgling new government in Libya develop in what Washington has called a "responsible" manner.