French President Nicolas Sarkozy named former premier Alain Juppe as his new foreign minister Sunday, after Michele Alliot-Marie, tainted by her ties to the former Tunisian regime, resigned.

Juppe will be replaced as defense minister by Gerard Longuet, the leader of Sarkozy's center right party in the French Senate, the president announced in a brief televised address to the nation.

The United States said Sunday it was prepared to offer "any kind of assistance" to Libyans seeking to overthrow the regime of strongman Moammer Gadhafi as they set up a transitional body.

As forces opposed to the longest-serving Arab leader took control of several western Libyan towns, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed the calls of world leaders, including President Barack Obama, for him to quit.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Sunday noted that he had mentioned the reasons behind his resignation in a letter he had submitted to Pope Benedict XVI, adding that the pope has accepted the resignation.

"The call for electing a new patriarch will be made very soon," Sfeir told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his return from the Vatican.

Caretaker premier Saad Hariri on Sunday held phone talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Hariri and Erdogan "discussed the ongoing efforts to evacuate Lebanese citizens from Libya," the premier's press office announced in a communiqué.

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned Sunday and was replaced by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former minister, after anti-government protests left five people dead over the weekend.

"I have decided to quit as prime minister," Ghannouchi told a news conference, saying that he thought carefully before taking the decision which was supported by his family.

Hundreds of people marched in Beirut on Sunday demanding an end to Lebanon's confessional system, mobilized by a call posted on Facebook.

"The revolution is everywhere ... Lebanon, it's your turn," chanted demonstrators, most of them young people, in reference to the popular uprisings rattling regimes across the Arab world since January.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati stressed on Sunday that the participation of the March 14 forces in his government was “necessary” but said he would study with President Michel Suleiman other available options if the coalition decided to boycott the cabinet.

Miqati made his remark as he wrapped up a two-day visit to the northern port city of Tripoli. The prime minister-designate hadn’t visited his hometown since his nomination a month ago.

Scores of Lebanese returned home from strife-torn Libya via Jordan on Sunday, urging Beirut authorities to facilitate the evacuation of other Lebanese citizens there, said the state-run National News Agency.

The Lebanese came aboard a Jordanian plane along with several members of their family holding Libyan passports, said NNA.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit Israeli territory on Sunday morning, raising Israel's alert level but causing no damage or casualties, according to Israel's military and police.

The latest rocket, which the military's spokeswoman said struck a field in the Eshkol region in southern Israel, comes after a string of Israeli air raids targeting militant training camps across the Gaza Strip on Saturday night.

Iraq's prime minister warned his cabinet on Sunday to shape up within 100 days or face "changes" as a third provincial governor stepped down following massive nationwide demonstrations.

Nuri al-Maliki's remarks came as protest organizers called for a fresh set of rallies on Friday, March 4, to mark a year since landmark parliamentary elections that led to nine months of political impasse, with several key ministerial posts still unfilled.