U.S. President Barack Obama has told his beleaguered Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak not to stand for re-election in upcoming September balloting, the New York Times said Tuesday.

The message from Obama was conveyed by former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Frank Wisner, who was dispatched to Cairo on Monday by the U.S. administration, the influential U.S. daily said, quoting American diplomats.

France urged Egypt on Tuesday to end the "bloodshed" that has left as many as 300 people dead in anti-government protests there.

"That must stop," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. "The blood must stop flowing. There have been too many deaths, too many wounded."

Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia, a leader of the local Jewish community said Tuesday.

"Someone set fire to the synagogue on Monday night and the Torah scrolls were burned," Trabelsi Perez told Agence France Presse, criticizing the lack of action by the security services to stop the attack.

French authorities have seized a plane belonging to the family of ousted Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, official sources said Tuesday.

The aircraft was seized at Le Bourget airport near Paris, where it had been parked in a hangar for a week, the sources said. It belongs to the Mabrouk family, one of whose members is Ben Ali's son-in-law.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday to meet his people's "desire for change" as he voiced support for democratic reform in the whole Middle East.

Erdogan also postponed an upcoming visit to Egypt because of the turmoil gripping the country.

King Abdullah II of Jordan named Maruf Bakhit as prime minister on Tuesday with orders to carry out "true political reforms," the palace said, after weeks of opposition protests demanding change.

"King Abdullah II designated Maruf Bakhit to form a new government to replace the government of Samir Rifai," a palace statement said.

Google, in response to the Internet blockade in Egypt, said Monday that it had created a way to post messages to microblogging service Twitter by making telephone calls.

Google worked with Twitter and freshly acquired SayNow, a startup specializing in social online voice platforms, to make it possible for anyone to "tweet" by leaving a message at any of three telephone numbers.

One of the insults flung at President Hosni Mubarak by Egyptian protesters seeking his ouster: "Mubarak, you coward! You American collaborator!"

Hostility toward the United States is widespread among the crowds in Cairo's streets, who feel Washington's alliance with Egypt — along with billions of dollars in military aid over the years — has helped Mubarak's authoritarian regime keep its grip on power for nearly 30 years.

No negotiations before Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak steps down, announced Egypt's Opposition as several hundred thousand anti-regime protesters flooded Cairo's Tahrir square on Tuesday for a hoped-for million-strong march against embattled President Hosni Mubarak.

The committee "will not enter into negotiations until the President of the Republic leaves," said a statement signed by several prominent opposition figures, including Mohammed ElBaradei, who is emerging as a leader of anti-regime protests, and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned of the dangers of an Iranian-style regime arising out of the political chaos sweeping through Egypt.

"In a time of chaos, an organized Islamic group can take over the state. It happened in Iran and it also happened in other places," the Israeli leader said at a press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.