The Arab League will ask the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force and appoint a special Arab envoy to try to halt the violence in Syria, members have agreed.
Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Sunday also decided to halt all diplomatic dealings with representatives of the Syrian government, though they did not demand the expulsion of Syrian ambassadors from member states.
The new efforts came a week after Russia and China vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council that would have supported an earlier Arab League plan for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power and begin a transition to a new government.
But Nabil el-Arabi, the league's chairman, said he had received a message from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that expressed support for the league's efforts and an expanded "observer" mission. Lavrov earlier defended Russia's veto and subsequently visited with Assad in Damascus.
The league suspended an observer mission in Syria last month, and on Sunday Arabi accepted the resignation of Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, who led the troubled mission. Arabi recommended appointing former Jordanian foreign minister and UN envoy to Libya Abdel Ilah al-Khatib as Dabi's replacement.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said the request for a peacekeeping force raised a number of questions, including whether Syria would agree and which Arab countries might contribute troops.
According to the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television station, Syria rejected the new plan on Sunday night.
The United Nations has historically deployed armed peacekeepers only with the host country's consent.
Arab foreign ministers have been engaging in "intensive talks" with Russia and China and are hoping they can help encourage Assad to accept a peacekeeping force as an alternative to escalating conflict, Rageh said.
The league also agreed to step up economic sanctions and provide the Syrian opposition with political and financial support, though it again refrained from recognizing the Syrian National Council - the most prominent of anti-Assad groups.
"Its a very difficult process to recognize the SNC - the Arab League made it clear to the opposition that the body as a whole cannot do it, but rather the individual countries will need to do that on their own," Rageh said.
Tunisia will host a "Friends of Syria" meeting on February 24 to attempt to build an international consensus on how to end the violence. Tunisia's foreign minister said the meeting will include Arab, regional and international states, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the country's foreign minister, said he backed the proposal.
Homs shelling continues
Syrian forces continued their bombardment of the city of Homs, and activist groups said 67 people were killed during violence across the country on Saturday, including 14 defectors from the Syrian military.
Opposition neighborhoods in Homs were hit by tank and rocket bombardments in the government's continuing crackdown on protesters there, with the city's Bab Amr area coming under concentrated fire.
Security forces have also made house-to-house raids over the last two days in Homs, which has been under siege for the last week, anti-government activists have said.
They say at least 300 people have been killed there since the government's latest assault began on February 4.
In Hama, the Syrian Revolutionary General Commission (SRGC), a rights group that has organized protests against Assad's rule, says that the army is continuing to maintain a heavy presence.
The group said troops raided the city's al-Sharia neighborhood and that heavy gunfire and mass arrests were reported from there and at least three other districts.
PHOTO CAPTION
Demonstrators gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, in Sheikh Meskeen near Deraa in this handout picture received February 12, 2012.
Al-Jazeera