The Gulf Arab states and Turkey, which have spearheaded regional condemnation of the Syrian regime for its deadly crackdown, urged Damascus Saturday to accept an Arab League plan to stop the bloodshed "without delay."

The Arab plan, which envisages President Bashar Assad transferring power to his deputy and the formation of a national unity government within two months, has been rejected by Syria.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Saturday backed minority Kurds in Syria, who have rallied against the rule of President Bashar Assad during 10 months of nationwide protests.

Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, was speaking at a two-day conference of Syrian Kurds in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Arbil.

At least 34 people died in violence across Syria on Saturday, as activists reported fierce clashes between soldiers and deserters.

Twenty-three of those reported killed were military or security personnel.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s “unprecedented” attack against the political class may be early signs of his preparations for the 2013 parliamentary elections battle, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

Informed political sources told the newspaper: “He is seeking to fortify his position in Lebanon seeing as he has started to detect that he has lost supporters in favor of his political adversaries.”

European and Arab nations on Friday circulated a new draft resolution on Syria at the U.N. Security Council calling for backing for an Arab League plan under which President Bashar al-Assad would have to stand down.

Morocco presented a draft resolution to the 15-nation body -- drawn up by Arab states with Britain, France and Germany -- that seeks to end months of U.N. deadlock over Syria.

At least 384 children have been killed during 10 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

"As of January 7, 384 children have been killed, most are boys," Rima Salah, acting UNICEF deputy executive director, told a press briefing in Geneva.

Scores of opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime stormed the Syrian embassy in Cairo on Friday before being dragged away by security forces, an Agence France Presse reporter said.

At least 200 protesters forced their way into the building in the Garden City neighborhood in Cairo, breaking doors and windows, before Egyptian security officials arrived and took them out. No arrests were made.

The head of the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria said Friday that violence there rose "in a significant way" in three days, particularly in the flashpoint cities of Homs, Hama and Idlib.

"The violence in Syria increased in a significant way between January 24 and 27, especially in Homs, Hama and Idlib," General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi said in a statement.

Syrian forces on Friday raided the rebellious city of Homs and shot dead at least 60 people across the country, activists said, as protesters took to the streets under the slogan "The Right to Self-defense," which refers to their support for the rebel Free Syrian Army.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces shot dead 60 people including five children, three women and three army deserters.

The rebel Free Syrian Army claimed on Friday to have captured five Iranian military officers in the restive city of Homs and urged Tehran to "immediately" withdraw any additional troops it may have in Syria.

In a statement, the FSA said the Iranians captured "were working under the orders of the intelligence services of the Syrian air force" and had no valid papers to reside or work in Syria.