Syrian troops have killed seven people in of Homs, just one day after Damascus pledged to withdraw its forces from protest centres under an Arab League plan.
The seven people died in the Baba Amr and Al-Inshaat neighbourhoods of Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
"Heavy machinegun fire is still being heard," the Britain-based watchdog added in a statement received in Nicosia.
Activists called for mass demonstrations to test the government's commitment to the peace blueprint, voicing scepticism about its readiness to rein in a crackdown that the UN says has cost more than 3,000 lives since mid-March.
London and Washington said that despite Damascus's agreement to the Arab League plan after weeks of prevarication, they still believed President Bashar al-Assad must heed the demands of anti-government protesters and step down.
Under the hard-won deal announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo late on Wednesday, the Syrian government is supposed to withdraw its troops from all protest centres, although the text set no timetable.
The blueprint agreed by Syria provides for a "complete halt to the violence to protect civilians."
It calls for the "release of people detained as a result of the recent events, the withdrawal of forces from towns and districts where there have been armed clashes, and the granting of access to the Arab League, and Arab and international media."
It also stipulates that "the Arab ministerial committee (headed by the prime minister of Qatar) will conduct consultations with the government and the various Syrian opposition parties aimed at launching a national dialogue."
The text did not specify a venue for the dialogue, a bone of contention between the government, which insists on Damascus, and the opposition which says it should be outside Syria.
