A senior UN official has told the Security Council that Syria accelerated its killing of pro-democracy demonstrators after Arab League monitors arrived, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said.

"The under-secretary-general noted that in the days since the Arab League monitoring mission has been on the ground, in fact an estimated 400 additional people have been killed, an average of 40 a day, a rate much higher than was the case even before their deployment," Rice told reporters on Tuesday.

Rice was speaking after Lynn Pascoe, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, briefed the 15-nation Security Council behind closed doors on Syria and other major crises. She said the figure did not include the more than two dozen people killed in a suicide bombing in Damascus last week.

"That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity ... to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments (to the Arab League), is instead stepping up the violence," she said.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari rejected Rice's allegations, saying the violence in the country was caused by "armed groups" that were receiving support from foreign countries.

Earlier on Tuesday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to strike " armed groups " with an iron fist and derided Arab League efforts to halt violence in a 10-month-old revolt against his rule.

In a televised speech on Tuesday, he accused the Arab League of hypocrisy for lecturing Syria on democracy and reform. However, he said his country would not "close the doors" to an Arab-brokered solution to the crisis as long as it respected Syria's sovereignty.

Assad claimed he never ordered anyone to open fire on anti-government protesters. However, opposition activists said at least 28 people were killed across the country on Tuesday alone as part of the government's security crackdown.

Assad asked what right other Arab governments, including the absolute monarchies of the Gulf, had to lecture Syria about democracy or reform.

"The first parliament in Syria was in 1917. Where were they then?" he said.

"Their situation is like a doctor who smokes and recommends to his patient to give up smoking while he, the doctor, has a cigarette in his mouth."

The Arab League suspended Syria and sent a team of monitors in late December to assess whether the government is abiding by its peace plan agreed to by Assad last month.

No orders to open fire

Assad's address at Damascus University was his first public speech since he agreed last month to the deployment of the Arab League monitors.

He said the unrest had inflicted a "heavy cost" and accused "foreign conspirators" of working to destabilize the country.

He also said that no orders had been given to security forces to open fire on civilians.

"There is no cover for anyone. There are no orders for anyone to open fire on any citizen," Assad said, adding that "by law, nobody can open fire, except in self-defense".

Assad said it had been his idea to send observers to Syria "to find out the truth".

He also said he would not step down, claiming he still had the Syrian people's support, despite months of anti-government protests across the country against his rule.

"When I leave office it will be by the will of the people," he said.

Assad defended the government's ban on most reporting by foreign media inside the country, saying that at the beginning of the unrest all media had been allowed to work freely.

"But fabrications from inside convinced us to put some control on this," he said.

Opposition reacts

Reacting to Assad's speech, the Syrian National Council (SNC), the largest opposition umbrella group, called it an "incitement to violence" indicating "more criminal behavior" by the government.

"There is incitement to violence, incitement to civil strife, some talks about sectarian divisions which the regime itself has fomented and encouraged," Basma Qadmani, an SNC member, said in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

"Our concern today is that such a speech is quite indicative of the total dismissal by the regime of the international community.

"And that is an indication that we are going in the direction of more irresponsible and more criminal behavior by the regime in the coming days and weeks."

Qadmani also said Assad's speech indicates that the government "is breaking up with the Arab League".

"This is a turning point, a rupture with its Arab environment," she said.

For his part, Assad, who has made repeated promises of reforms, said a new constitution would soon be put to a referendum, with a vote possible by March, followed by multi-party parliamentary elections within months.

"After legislation has been drawn up and a constitution... we will call a referendum... [maybe] in the first week of March." he said. "Elections must be linked to a new constitution. They could be at the start of May."

Assad urged Syrians to remain steadfast, telling them that "victory is near" and that outside forces had been unable to "find a foothold in the revolution that they had hoped for".

He also pledged to hit back at so-called terrorists following a pair of deadly bombings in Damascus and spreading violence blamed on anti-government forces.

PHOTO CAPTION

In this image made from video, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012.

Aljazeera