Fierce clashes approached the Syrian capital on Sunday as fresh violence across the country killed at least 59 civilians, 31 regime troops and nine army deserters, according to activists.

Regime forces fired heavy artillery and mortar rounds against the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Saqba, Irbin and Hamouriyeh and were locked in close battle with rebel fighters emboldened by a fresh wave of desertions, activists said.

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Sunday he hopes Russia and China will change their stance on Syria and allow the U.N. Security Council to issue a resolution backing a League plan to end the crisis.

"I hope these two countries will alter their position concerning the draft U.N. Security Council resolution which would adopt the Arab plan," Arabi said before leaving Cairo for the United Nations in New York.

Russia on Sunday slammed a decision to suspend the Arab League's observer mission in Syria after a deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

"We would like to know why they are treating such a useful instrument in this way," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on a visit to Brunei, cited by the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency.

Egyptians headed to the polls on Sunday for the election of the upper house of parliament, with Islamists looking to build on their triumph in the People's Assembly.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) with only a handful of voters in several stations, an Agence France Presse reporter said, in sharp contrast to the long lines and enthusiasm around the elections for the lower house of parliament.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who is due to step down next month, arrived Saturday in the United States on a politically sensitive visit to seek medical treatment for wounds inflicted in a bombing.

The embattled leader flew from Oman to the United States with a brief refueling stop at Stansted Airport outside London, ending days of speculation about whether or when he would make the trip.

European and Arab U.N. members on Saturday started rewriting a proposed Security Council resolution condemning Syria's deadly crackdown on dissent after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria.

European countries said the withdrawal highlighted the need for U.N. action. France's foreign minister contacted his Russia counterpart in a bid to overcome Moscow's resistance to the draft resolution officially presented on Friday, diplomats said.

Libya's ruling National Transitional Council said it adopted on Saturday a new electoral law on the basis of which the North African country will form its first constituent assembly in June.

The law, announced on the NTC's Facebook page, scraps a draft proposal that would have reserved 10 percent of seats on the 200-member General National Congress for women, in a move criticized by women's and rights groups.

Dozens of Libyans protested Saturday against Defense Minister Osama Juili's visit to an ex-bastion of Moammar Gadhafi, saying it showed support from the nation's new rulers to the slain dictator's diehards.

"Don't trade with the blood of martyrs for the sake of elections!" shouted angry protesters demonstrating in Tripoli against Juili's visit on Wednesday to Bani Walid after deadly clashes there killed seven people.

Thousands of Tunisians angered by the increasing prominence of ultra-conservative Islamists in a country only recently freed from dictatorial rule took to the streets in protest Saturday.

An Agence France Presse correspondent estimated several thousand activists, professors, artists and other demonstrators flooded the streets of the nation's capital, including along Bourguiba Avenue, a well-known thoroughfare that became a center for dissent during protests that led to the ouster of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali a year ago.

Syria said it was surprised by and regrets the Arab League's decision to suspend its observer mission to the unrest-swept country on Saturday.

"Syria is surprised by and regrets the decision taken by (Arab League chief Nabil) al-Arabi to suspend the observer mission after having decided (last week) to extend it for a month," state news agency SANA said on its website.