At least eight people have been reported killed in Syrian government shelling of rebel-held areas as the United States, Europe and Arab nations met in Tunisia to seek ways to end President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on the uprising.

As tensions mounted further in Syria, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby last night appointed Kofi Annan, Ban's predecessor as joint special envoy on the Syrian crisis.

Syrian tanks and troops have massed outside the resistance stronghold of Homs for a possible ground assault that one activist warned could unleash a new round of fierce and bloody urban combat even as the Red Cross tried to broker a ceasefire to allow emergency aid in.

The Arab League forged ahead with plans to send teams of monitors into Syria today even as President Bashar Assad’s regime intensified its crackdown in the week since agreeing to halt bloodshed.