German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to seek a swift revival of peace talks with the Palestinians citing regional unrest as cause for urgency.

At a joint press conference with Netanyahu on the first day of a visit to Tel Aviv that included a joint German-Israeli cabinet meeting, she spoke of "troubled times" against a backdrop of civil revolt in Egypt and Tunisia.

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, struggling to defuse the biggest-ever challenge to his rule, axed the widely-hated Habib al-Adly as interior minister on Monday as he rolled out a new government that was swiftly rejected by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood.

On day seven of mass protests demanding the end of Mubarak's regime, state television showed new cabinet ministers being sworn in and shaking hands with the man who has ruled Egypt for three decades.

Europe demanded "free and fair" elections in Egypt on Monday as it sought to respond to pressure to speak up on the turmoil sweeping Arab nations on its volatile southern flank.

With Egypt seen as key to stability across the Middle East, European Union foreign ministers demanded President Hosni Mubarak kickstart an "orderly transition" that stopped short of asking him to step down.

Europe's foreign ministers on Monday froze the assets of ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his wife in response to a request from the Tunisian authorities.

The sanctions against Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi were decided at a meeting of the European Union's 27 ministers, diplomatic sources said.

he Israeli army on Monday rearrested Hamas lawmaker Mohammed Jamal al-Natsh, just months after he was released from prison, Palestinian security officials said.

Natsh, 53, was arrested in the southern West Bank town of Hebron, five months after being released from prison. He spent eight years in detention, Palestinian officials said, during which time he ran successfully for office.

Israel has told its diplomats in the United States, Europe and elsewhere to encourage their host nations to support the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, daily Haaretz reported Monday.

The newspaper said Israel's foreign ministry told its diplomats to stress that it is in "the interest of the West" and of "the entire Middle East to maintain the stability of the regime in Egypt."

Egyptian protesters on Monday called for an indefinite general strike and said they planned a "million man march" on Tuesday to mark one week since the start of deadly anti-government protests.

"It was decided overnight that there will be a million man march on Tuesday," Eid Mohammed, one of the protesters and organizers, told Agence France Presse.

Southern Sudan's referendum commission said Sunday that more than 99 percent of voters in the south opted to secede from the country's north in a vote held earlier this month.

The unemployed 24-year-old was arguing with a police officer when the man struck him across the face — a blow that seemed to sting for months.

"He stole my dignity with that slap," said Hassanein, who does odd jobs to make money. "We could never stand up to those officers before because we were afraid. But we're no longer willing to be silenced by our fear."

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups have authorized leading dissident Mohammed ElBaradei to negotiate with embattled President Hosni Mubarak's regime, an Islamist leader said Sunday.

The National Coalition for Change, which groups several opposition movements including the banned Brotherhood around ElBaradei, has authorized the Nobel peace laureate with "negotiating with the authorities," Saad al-Katatni told AFP.