Syrian forces are tightening their grip on Damascus' outskirts, as the Arab League pushes a UN resolution drawn up with Western powers condemning President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi is in New York where he will brief the Security Council tomorrow, seeking support for a resolution calling for the Syrian President to step down.
France and Britain crafted the resolution in consultation with Qatar, Morocco, Germany, Portugal and the US.
A French source said that ten of Council's 15 members now support the resolution. At least nine are needed for a resolution to be put to a vote.
However, it can then be vetoed by any of the five permanent members, and Russia is threatening to block it.
"The current Western draft has gone too far ... and certainly cannot be supported by us" Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax news agency.
Russia had suggested that Syrian authorities and the opposition meet in Moscow for "informal contacts" without any preconditions.
Syrian authorities have agreed but the head of the Syrian National Council said the opposition will not engage in talks until President Assad steps down.
Recent violence has been described by activists as the most intense since the beginning of the ten-month uprising.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that at least 20 civilians were killed when security forces stormed the flashpoint central city of Homs.
Yesterday it said that 80 people were killed across the country, half of them civilians.
Regime forces seem intent on taking back complete control of Damascus suburbs that have intermittently fallen into the hands of rebel fighters in recent weeks.
Across the area, government soldiers have set up checkpoints at strategic intersections in search of armed fighters or suspects wanted by security services.
The rebel Free Syrian Army said 50 more officers and soldiers turned their back on Mr Assad on Saturday and in a "steady progression of fighting towards the capital" clashed with army regulars only 8km from Damascus.
The regime, in turn, has launched "an unprecedented offensive" using heavy artillery against villages in Damascus and Hama province of central Syria, the rebel army said.
It reported clashes yesterday as close as 4km to the capital.
The latest spike in violence, on top of what the UN said at the start of January already added up to 5,400 killings, pushed the Arab League to suspend its mission to Syria in a surprise move on Saturday.
