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Russia's foreign minister said Tuesday after talks in Damascus that President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed in Syria even as regime tanks pounded the city of Homs for a fourth day.

Sergei Lavrov said he had had a "very useful" meeting with Assad and that Moscow was eager to work towards a solution based on Arab League peace proposals.

"We (Russia) confirmed our readiness to act for a rapid solution to the crisis based on the plan put forward by the Arab League," he said, adding Syria was ready to see an enlarged Arab League mission in the country, Russian news agencies reported.

The pan-Arab bloc deployed an observer mission to Syria in December to oversee a November plan to end bloodshed that has now lasted almost 11 months.

But the mission, widely criticised as ineffective, was suspended in late January after its chief said the violence had reached a new pitch of intensity despite its presence on the ground.

The 22-member League has since put forward a new plan for Assad to hand his powers to Vice President Faruq al-Shara and for the formation of a national unity government to oversee the preparation of democratic elections.

Shara, a veteran regime diplomat with a career that stretches back to the rule of Assad's late father president Hafez al-Assad, attended Tuesday's talks with Lavrov, the official SANA news agency said.

Lavrov did not specify which of the two Arab plans he was referring to in his comments Tuesday, although SANA quoted Assad as interpreting the reference to be to the earlier one.

"President Assad said that Syria from the start has welcomed any efforts toward a solution to the Syrian crisis and is committed to the Arab League plan that was decided on November 2, 2011," the news agency said.

After Tuesday's talks, Lavrov said he believed Damascus had heard Moscow's message. "We have every reason to believe that the signal that we've brought here to move along in a more active manner along all directions has been heard," he said.

Lavrov said Syria was pressing ahead with the reform programme Assad promised in speeches last year and would soon announce the timetable for a referendum on a new constitution to replace the current one that enshrines the dominance of his Baath party.

SANA said Assad would receive the text drawn up by an appointed panel on Wednesday.

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland voiced scepticism over Assad's promises.

"You can understand that the international community as a whole would be pretty sceptical of, instead of focusing on ending the violence, what we seem to have is a re-upping of this same offer that Assad has been making for months and months and months," she told reporters in Washington.

Lavrov said Assad was also ready for dialogue with all parties.

"Today we've received confirmation of President Assad's readiness to facilitate this work," he said.

But on the ground, there was no let-up in the regime's crackdown on protest hubs around the country, particularly the central city of Homs, Syria's third-largest.

Tanks and artillery pounded Homs for a fourth straight day, killing at least 15 civilians, according to activists, as the interior ministry vowed no let-up in the onslaught against "terrorist groups".

"Operations to hunt down terrorist groups will continue until security and order are re-established in all neighbourhoods of Homs and its environs," pledged an interior ministry statement carried by SANA.

Abu Rami, an activist in the city reached by AFP by telephone from Beirut, said shelling and rocket fire continued through Monday night and into Tuesday.

"There are about four blasts every five minutes," he said. "The humanitarian situation is dire. No one can move around."

At least nine civilians, including a woman, and four soldiers were killed as the army attempted to storm the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood of the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Another six civilians were killed in the Baba Amr district, the Britain-based watchdog said, adding that a further seven civilians and four security service agents were killed elsewhere in Syria on Tuesday.

Shooting thought to be from outgunned rebels fighters echoed across Baba Amr in response to the artillery barrage from besieging troops.

US Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate in the 2008 election won by President Barack Obama, said it was time for Washington to think about arming the rebels.

"We should start considering all options, including arming the opposition. The blood-letting has got to stop," he said.

Human rights groups say more than 6,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the revolt in March.

Moscow sparked Western anger last week by joining Beijing in using its veto at the Security Council to block UN action against the Damascus regime, in what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called a "travesty."

A day after the United States closed its Damascus embassy, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain joined Britain and Belgium on Tuesday in recalling their ambassadors to Syria for consultations.

Turkey, which shared Western anger over the Russian and Chinese vetoes, said it would launch a "new initiative" with like-minded countries which "stand by the Syrian people, not the regime."

The six Arab states of the Gulf announced that they had decided to expel Syria's envoys and withdraw their own from Damascus in protest over the "mass slaughter" of civilians.

AFP