Syria has hit out at the Arab League after it suspended its monitoring mission, saying it is an attempt to influence the United Nations Security Council.
The claim was made by Syrian state television, which added: "This will have a negative impact and put pressure on (Security Council) deliberations with the aim of calling for foreign intervention and encouraging armed groups to increase violence."
The Arab League announced it was suspending its mission to Syria following its submission of a new draft resolution to the UN Security Council.
League Secretary-General Nabil el Araby said the move was made as a result of increasing violence, which activists claim has seen close to 200 deaths in the last few days alone.
Earlier, the Syrian government said it was "sorry and surprised" that the League had suspended its activities.
In an interview with Sky News, Syrian activist Danny Abdul Dayem said that Homs was "expecting a big attack" following the observer withdrawal from the city.
He said the army had already started shelling the Bab Amr district of Homs, claiming that "more than 70 rounds of bombings and shellings" had hit.
"They were killing slowly when the observers were here, but now they are killing faster," he said.
"The monitors have not been helping that much. Every single area the monitors visit, the Syrian army hides."
He claimed that regime operatives would return after monitors had left to "kidnap, kill and shoot at protesters".
He said the monitors "gave the regime more time to kill".
"We don't care who comes and helps us. We want anyone to come and help us.
"We will continue to the end. If this revolution is going to stop, they are going to have to kill all the civilians. It is something we started and we are going to have to finish it. We are not going to live under this criminal."
In his harshest criticism yet, Mr el Araby said the regime has "resorted to escalating the military option in complete violation of (its) commitments" to end the crackdown.
He said the victims of the violence have been "innocent citizens," rejecting Syria's claims that it is fighting "terrorists".
The League's deputy chief, Ahmed Ben Heli, said around 100 observers still in Syria have stopped their work and are staying in their Damascus hotel until the League's council can meet to decide the operation's fate.
The news comes as Gulf Arab states and Turkey were due to meet in Istanbul, where they hope to sway international actors into supporting further action through a new Security Council resolution.
The summit follows the Arab League's announcement last week that Syrian President Bashar al Assad should allow his deputy to take the reins.
Britain, which crafted the resolution with France after consultation from Qatar, Morocco, Germany and the US, emphasised its commitment to the resolution.
The UK's ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said "the time has come" to support the Arab League.
The head of Istanbul-based opposition group the Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, is to travel to New York to push UN officials into taking tougher action.
But Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the new Arab and European proposal, which was submitted officially by Morocco for a vote which its supporters hope will take place next week, said the new draft "crosses our red lines".
"The Arab League may have its ideas where political dialogue should go," he said.
"Certainly they are free to express those ideas but the Security Council should not be a tool to impose specific solutions on countries, including, in this particular case, Syria."
Along with China, Russia exercised its veto in October following the last European draft which would have meant "targeted measures" against President Assad.
Mr Lyall Grant said the new text "fully supports" the Arab League plan and "encourages" all states to follow sanctions adopted by the pan-Arab bloc last November, but contains no mandatory action, or arms embargoes.
"You should not be fooled by those who are claiming there are all sorts of other things in the text, trying to refight battles over Libya," he said, also dismissing claims that regime change was at the heart of the new draft.
"We want, as do the Arabs, a unanimous resolution. Frankly, the time has come when we should be supporting the Arab League."
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