Syrian opposition figure Riyad Turk urged on Tuesday support for Kofi Annan's peace plan as he called for a national dialogue in Syria, but insisted that President Bashar Assad must first step down.

The "need to put an end to the cycle of killings and massacres ... urges us to accept Kofi Annan's plan," said Turk, a member of the Syrian National Council, whose leaders have not yet given a clear stance on the U.N.-Arab League envoy's peace proposal.

Saudi newspapers on Tuesday waged a scathing campaign against Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over his implicit criticism of the kingdom and Qatar for their calls to arm Syrian rebels.

Some 146 deaths were reported on Monday as Syrian forces pressed their crackdown on dissent, pounding rebel bastions mainly in the restive north which also left many hurt, monitors said.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, reported the 146 deaths, which included 75 bodies that were found at a hospital in the central province of Homs.

The number of journalists killed while doing their job in the first three months of the year reached 31, up 50 percent from 21 deaths a year ago, media watchdog Press Emblem Campaign said Monday.

In strife-torn Syria, nine journalists lost their lives during the period, including famed American war correspondent Marie Colvin.

Syria has agreed to "immediately" start pulling troops out of protest cities, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said Monday but Western nations quickly expressed doubts that the new promises would be kept.

Annan said President Bashar al-Assad's foreign minister had agreed to complete a troop and heavy weapon withdrawal by April 10, U.S. ambassador Susan Rice told reporters after a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Syria crisis.

Sunday's "Friends of Syria" conference sidestepped solid measures against the Damascus regime for fear of getting sucked into a conflict that could defy control, analysts and experts said.

Although most countries are committed to a political transition that puts President Bashar al-Assad out of power, they are concerned with the military venture they might have to risk for that, observers suggested.

Red Cross chief Jakob Kellenberger is traveling to Syria Monday where he will meet ministers over humanitarian and detention issues, the ICRC relief agency said.

"I am determined to see the ICRC and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent expand their presence, range and scope of activities to address the needs of vulnerable people. This will be a key element of my talks with the Syrian officials," said Kellenberger in a statement.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat saluted on Monday the Syrian people in their ongoing uprising against the ruling regime.

He noted in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The resistance in Lebanon must join the Syrian people’s resistance against the regime.”

A Russian navy destroyer will dock at the Syrian port of Tartus in the coming days after setting out on a planned mission to the region, agencies quoted military officials as saying Monday.

The Smetlivy guided-missile destroyer sailed for the Mediterranean from its Black Sea base of Sevastopol over the weekend and will shortly arrive at the Russian-leased port in Syria, state news agency and other reports said.

A Syrian government newspaper said on Monday that a weekend meeting in Istanbul of what it called the "Enemies of Syria" was a failure for those seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.

"Despite all the hype, the conference of the 'Enemies of Syria' produced only meager results... showing it was unable to shake Syrians' rejection of foreign intervention," said al-Baath newspaper, mouthpiece of Assad's ruling party by the same name.