At least 23 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.
"As night fell shells rained on the restive area of Baba Amr, hitting a three-storey building and killing eight people," Omar Homsi, an activist based in Homs, told dpa by phone.
The new casualties raised Monday's death toll to 23.
Homsi also said that the Syrian authorities freed prominent blogger Razan Ghazzawi and six other activists late Monday, who were arrested last week in the capital Damascus.
In Cairo, US Senator John McCain called 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."
Earlier Monday, seven people were killed in shelling that targeted the province of Homs, while three people were shot by Syrian troops in the province of Hama, said Homsi, the activist.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the infantry was taking up positions across Homs in preparation for "an imminent attack" on the restive neighbourhood of Baba Amr.
In the northern province of Idlib, security forces shelled Maaret al-Numan, a base for army defectors who have formed the opposition Free Syrian Army, killing a five people, activists in the area said.
Government troops tightened 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 at 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.
Meanwhile, the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) started stepping up its efforts in preparation for a Friends of Syria conference to be held on Friday in Tunisia.
The conference will take place two days before Syria is set to vote on a draft constitution, hailed by the government as an important reform initiative.
Naji Tayyara, the SNC's head of foreign relations, said: "At first there was an objection (to) our attendance by Russia and China, but Arab members insist on our presence."
Reports last week had quoted Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalam as saying that the Syrian opposition would not be invited to the conference.
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.
According to the initiative, Syria is to form a national unity government within two months. This would pave the way for free presidential and parliamentary elections under international supervision.
...