Syria rejects new Arab League peace plan

Damascus has rejected the Arab League's call to bring international peacekeepers into Syria, labelling it a hostile act aimed at undermining security and stability in the country.

An emergency session of foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League in Cairo has issued a resolution appealing to the UN to bring peacekeeping force into Syria. The international contingent, they insist, should consist of UN blue helmets and troops from Arab countries, "to oversee the implementation of a ceasefire."

The plan comes as the UN General Assembly prepares to debate Syria. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay, who has been sharply critical of the actions of President Bashar al-Assad's government, is expected to address the assembly.

The Arab League also said it would be "opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to it", and urged opposition groups to be more united.

The League's moves come a week after a UN Security Council resolution on Syria, which would have endorsed a previous Arab League peace initiative, was vetoed by Russia and China.

The Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Arabi proposed to form a new monitoring group for Syria, consisted of international observers of both the UN and the Arab League specialists. He also proposed former foreign minister of Jordan Abdelilah Al-Khatib to be a UN special envoy for Syria, a diplomat that previously worked as a UN special envoy for Libya.

Syria's ambassador to Cairo Yusef Ahmed, who did not attend the meeting, said "The Syrian Arab Republic categorically rejects the decisions of the Arab League" .

Syrian diplomats believes this resolution mirrors "hysterics" of the Arab League countries once they failed to secure the UN Security Council's intervention in Syria's affairs.

Meanwhile, fresh violence in the Syrian city of Homs was reported on Monday.

"Tank shelling has been non-stop on Baba Amro and the bombardment on al-Waer [district] began overnight," activist Mohammad al-Hassan said.

Following after a brief lull in fighting, at least four people were killed in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of the city on Sunday, the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights said.

At least 35 were reported dead on Saturday.

Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas on the city earlier this month.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 have died throughout Syria since March. The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is not possible to verify casualty figures.