At least 2,600 people have been killed in the unrest in Syria since popular protests first broke out in mid-March, the U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said

"With regard to Syria, let me note that, according to reliable sources on the ground, the number of those killed since the onset of the unrest in mid-March 2011 in that country, has now reached at least 2,600," Pillay told the U.N. Human Rights Council.

A former defense minister, a one-time TV journalist, an ex-mayor and a scion of one of Israel's top political families faced off on Monday in a fight for the leadership of the Labor party.

The once-mighty party, now reduced to eight seats in the 120-member parliament, has been without a chairman since Defense Minister Ehud Barak jumped ship in January to form the centrist "Independence" movement.

Gunmen killed a senior Yemeni intelligence officer in the main southern city of Aden, the latest in a spate of assassinations to hit the south, a security official said on Monday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Ahmed Abd Rabbo was driving along the main coast road on Sunday evening when protesters blocked his way, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iranian intelligence forces have killed three members of an outlawed leftist Kurdish group, one of whom was responsible for killing three policemen, state television reported on Monday.

"Three members of Komalah terrorist group were killed during a fight with our intelligence forces two nights ago," the television's website quoted Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi as saying after a cabinet meeting late on Sunday.

The Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday urged Syria to immediately stop its "killing machine" against anti-regime protesters, and reiterated its demand for serious reforms.

Ending a meeting in Jeddah, the six GCC foreign ministers issued a statement calling for "an immediate end to the killing machine" in Syria.

A new transitional government will be formed in Libya within 10 days, the deputy chief of the National Transitional Council told reporters on Sunday.

"A new government will be formed within one week to ten days," said Mahmoud Jibril, who serves as the "prime minister" of the NTC, the political wing of the rebellion that overthrew strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

One of deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s sons, Al-Saadi Gadhafi, arrived Sunday in Niger, a government spokesman said.

"Today, September 11, a patrol of the Nigerien armed forces intercepted a convoy in which was found one of Gadhafi’s sons," Marou Amadou said.

Former rebel fighters clashed on Sunday with pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces at the oasis town of Bani Walid and were closing in on Sirte, poised for all-out assaults on the fallen leader's remaining strongholds.

Medics said at least two fighters were killed and 12 wounded in the skirmishes on the outskirts of Bani Walid, near to where forces loyal to Libya's new rulers were massed, waiting for the final signal to storm the town.

The satellite channel Al-Jazeera Egypt said on Sunday the authorities had prevented it from broadcasting, after entering its offices and confiscating transmission equipment.

Ahmed Zain, the channel's chief in Cairo, told Agence France Presse that police, officers from the culture ministry and representatives of Egypt's public broadcaster had also seized materials and that one technician was arrested.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers not to launch any attacks on U.S. troops before a year-end deadline for their withdrawal from the country, in a statement seen on Sunday.

Sadr's remarks came just days after he backtracked on a call for popular anti-government rallies. American forces have accused militias linked to the cleric of largely being behind attacks on its soldiers.