U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Iraqi leaders to address the "root causes" of a surge in bloodshed as security forces clashed on Monday with gunmen in violence-racked Anbar province.

But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, standing next to Ban at a joint news conference, insisted that the Anbar unrest was not due to internal problems, and that dialogue with militants was not an option.

Nearly 650 people were wounded during the night by exploding fireworks in the Libyan capital, where Muslims were celebrating the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, state media said Monday.

Lana news agency, quoting hospital officials in Tripoli, said more than 640 people were hurt, many of them suffering burns to the hands and eyes. It added that some revelers had fingers amputated.

Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum has urged that sanctions on Iran be lifted, complaining that his emirate has suffered from the punitive measures imposed on its Gulf neighbor.

"Give Iran a space," Sheikh Mohammed said in an interview with the BBC, excerpts of which were provided by the channel on Monday.

Pope Francis on Monday voiced hope that talks in Geneva next week will kick off a peace process in Syria.

The pope expressed grave concern about the humanitarian situation and said urgent aid should be allowed to reach all parts of the country.

The ruler of Dubai has said he hopes Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will not run for Egypt's presidency, days after the general indicated his willingness to stand in the election.

"I hope he stays in the army. And someone else [stands] for the presidency," Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum said in an interview with the BBC, excerpts of which were provided Monday by the channel.

Syria warned on Monday against preconditions for peace talks in Switzerland next week, a day after an opposition leader said President Bashar Assad's departure was "inevitable."

"Any person who seeks preconditions or mistakes their dreams for reality is leading to the failure of the Geneva conference before it even starts," Syrian state media quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

A crackdown by Egypt's authorities on the Muslim Brotherhood has left hundreds of Islamic charities struggling for funds, with experts warning the move could impact this week's referendum on a new constitution.

The Tuesday-Wednesday vote has been billed as the first step in Egypt's democratic transition after the military overthrew Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in July following huge protests against his one-year rule.

More than 20 of the 200 or so Belgian Islamists who have left for Syria to fight President Bashar Assad's regime have been killed, Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said Monday.

"More than 200 people have been clearly identified or are being identified... Most have joined the most extremist groups, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)," an al-Qaida-linked group, Reynders said in a newspaper interview.

Moscow and Washington made a joint call Monday for Syria's regime and rebels to agree to ceasefires in parts of their battle-scarred country ahead of peace talks this month.

But the two countries continued to disagree on Iran's participation in the talks, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry saying Tehran needs to accept plans for a transitional government if it wants to take part.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has taken most of the town of al-Bab in Syria's Aleppo province after fighting with rebels, an NGO said Monday.

The advance by the group in the country's turbulent north comes after 10 days of fighting pitting moderate and Islamist opposition forces against the al-Qaida inspired organisation that has killed nearly 700 people.