President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Egypt's embattled autocratic ruler, a staunch U.S. ally, to begin immediately the process of transitioning the country to new leadership, a signal that there should be no drawn-out goodbye.

Earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had announced he would not seek another term in office but also would not yield to growing demands to step down now. After a huddle at the White House and a 30-minute telephone conversation with Mubarak, Obama went on television to respond.

Syrians are organizing campaigns on Facebook and Twitter that call for a "day of rage" in Damascus this week, taking inspiration from Egypt and Tunisia in using social networking sites to rally their followers for sweeping political reforms.

Like Egypt and Tunisia, Syria suffers from corruption, poverty and unemployment. All three nations have seen subsidy cuts on staples like bread and oil. Syria's authoritarian president has resisted calls for political freedoms and jailed critics of his regime.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak pledged on Tuesday that he would not stand for re-election in September, in an address to the nation that came after eight days of anti-government demonstrations.

"In all sincerity, regardless of the current circumstances, I never intended to be a candidate for another term," he said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has told his beleaguered Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak not to stand for re-election in upcoming September balloting, the New York Times said Tuesday.

The message from Obama was conveyed by former U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Frank Wisner, who was dispatched to Cairo on Monday by the U.S. administration, the influential U.S. daily said, quoting American diplomats.

France urged Egypt on Tuesday to end the "bloodshed" that has left as many as 300 people dead in anti-government protests there.

"That must stop," French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters. "The blood must stop flowing. There have been too many deaths, too many wounded."

Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia, a leader of the local Jewish community said Tuesday.

"Someone set fire to the synagogue on Monday night and the Torah scrolls were burned," Trabelsi Perez told Agence France Presse, criticizing the lack of action by the security services to stop the attack.

French authorities have seized a plane belonging to the family of ousted Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, official sources said Tuesday.

The aircraft was seized at Le Bourget airport near Paris, where it had been parked in a hangar for a week, the sources said. It belongs to the Mabrouk family, one of whose members is Ben Ali's son-in-law.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Tuesday to meet his people's "desire for change" as he voiced support for democratic reform in the whole Middle East.

Erdogan also postponed an upcoming visit to Egypt because of the turmoil gripping the country.

King Abdullah II of Jordan named Maruf Bakhit as prime minister on Tuesday with orders to carry out "true political reforms," the palace said, after weeks of opposition protests demanding change.

"King Abdullah II designated Maruf Bakhit to form a new government to replace the government of Samir Rifai," a palace statement said.

Google, in response to the Internet blockade in Egypt, said Monday that it had created a way to post messages to microblogging service Twitter by making telephone calls.

Google worked with Twitter and freshly acquired SayNow, a startup specializing in social online voice platforms, to make it possible for anyone to "tweet" by leaving a message at any of three telephone numbers.