Hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets in the northern city of Tripoli Tuesday, burning tires and blocking roads in protest against Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahhab's recent remarks on Saudi women.

Around 500 protesters gathered and chanted "There is no God but God" and "Wiam, you pig; you should be chained down."

Armed forces rolled Monday into Bahrain from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help restore order in the strategic Gulf kingdom where protesters have shut down the financial center.

Thousands of mostly Shiite protesters occupied Manama's business district, turning the regional banking hub into a ghost town as they pressed their calls for democratic change from the Sunni Muslim monarchy.

Kuwaiti telecommunications firm Zain has tentatively accepted a $950 million bid for its Saudi operations, the division's joint suitors said Monday in a deal that could lead to further consolidation for the Mideast's mobile service providers.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co. said in a regulatory filing that it and bid partner Batelco Group of Bahrain received "preliminary acceptance" for their non-binding offer from Zain's board. Completing the deal is expected to take weeks.

Oil kingpin Saudi Arabia braced Friday for protests calling for political and economic reforms a day after witnesses said police shot and wounded three Shiite demonstrators.

Online activists using the Facebook and Twitter have called for a "Day of Rage" and a "Saudi March 11 revolution" demanding a fully elected parliament and ruler in this conservative Islamic monarchy.

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday that a decision to support imposing a no-fly zone over Libya was up to the Arab League, not only Gulf countries.

"It is an issue that is the responsibility of the Arab League," Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a press conference in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia came under renewed pressure Wednesday to ease its ban on demonstrations, as Facebook activists called for a "Day of Rage" and a "Saudi revolution" later this week.

With the tightly controlled kingdom's security forces poised to crack down on any unauthorized demonstrations, U.S.-based lobby group Human Rights Watch added its voice to demands for a relaxation of the protest ban.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks Sunday in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz.

Hariri and the crown prince "reviewed the bilateral relations between the two countries and discussed the latest developments at the Arab, regional and international levels," Saudi Arabia's official news agency SPA reported.

Saudi Arabian Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz held talks on Saturday with Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri who is visiting the Kingdom at the head of a delegation, reported the Saudi Arabian news agency.

The talks focused on bilateral ties and issues of joint interest.

House Speaker Nabih Berri’s sources revealed to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that he is preparing a decisive response to Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s recent speech, noting that the speaker “no longer cares” that the ties between him and the premier have reached one of their worst points.

The paper also reported sources close to the March 8 camp as saying that Hizbullah “will not take a risk in any confrontation between it and Hariri that would harm the party’s new allies.”

Saudi Arabia's interior ministry said on Saturday that protests were illegal, amid various calls for demonstrations demanding change in the ultra-conservative kingdom, state media said.

"Regulations in the kingdom forbid categorically all sorts of demonstrations, marches and sit-ins... as they contradict Islamic Sharia law and the values and traditions of Saudi society," said a ministry statement carried by SPA state news agency.