At least 33 people were killed across Syria on Monday as the army boosted its presence in Damascus and the central provinces to prevent new anti-regime protests, opposition activists said, dpa reported.
Monday's casualty toll mostly fell in the central province of Homs and the northern region of Idlib near the Syrian-Turkish border.
Omar Homsi, a Syrian activist based in the area of Al-Kussair in the Homs region, told dpa by satellite phone late Monday that "there were tanks and troops movement near the restive of area of Baba Amr."
Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said earlier the infantry was taking up positions across Homs in preparation for "an imminent attack" on the restive neighbourhood of Baba Amr.
Arab media reported that the International Committee of the Red Cross is negotiating with the Syrian regime to enter restive areas across Syria to deliver a much-needed medical and humanitarian aide.
The surge in violence in Syria prompted US Senator John McCain, who is currently in Cairo, to call for "the direct supply of weapons by the United States" to the Syrian opposition to defend themselves. He told a news conference: "It is time to give our support ... and stop the slaughter."
In Mexico, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking on the sidelines of the gathering of foreign ministers from the G20 group of leading economic countries, vowed to use all diplomatic measures at her disposal to convince Russia and China to change their position on Syria.
Earlier this month, Russia and China used their veto in the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution sponsored by the Arab League that called on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down and allow a peaceful transfer of power.
The Arab League chief revealed in a press conference in Cairo late Monday that there were signs that China and Russia could be shifting their stance on Syria.
"There are indications coming from China and Russia that there may be a change in position," Nabil Al Arabi said in a joint presser in Cairo with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Qatari ambassador Nasser Abdel Aziz.
"The international community could no longer remain silent on the situation in Syria," Abdel Aziz said.
Al Arabi said a meeting planned for Friday in Tunisia of the "Friends of Syria" is aimed at exerting pressure on the Syrian regime to stop the bloodbath in the country.
The Friends of Syria conference, launched by France and the United States, aims to secure international support for the Arab initiative after the United Nations Security Council failed on February 4 to pass a resolution condemning the violence in Syria because of vetoes by Russia and China, Syria's main allies.
Amid all the diplomatic pressure on the Syrian regime, violence has widened its circle to reach the capital Damascus over the weekend.
Government troops tightened Monday their grip on areas in and around the capital. Army checkpoints were set up in Mezzeh, which houses embassies, and in neighbouring Kfar Sousa, where at least six people, including three teenagers, were killed in clashes between protesters and security forces over the weekend.
Soldiers were searching cars and checking the identity cards of people leaving or entering the two areas, according to activists.
The United Nations said in January that at least 5,400 people have been killed in the government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that started in March.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the death toll at more than 7,400.
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