U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that the international community must now act against the Syrian government's crackdown on protests "in the name of humanity."

Ban told a press conference he has sent a U.N. Human Rights Council report on the Syrian regime's crackdown to the U.N. Security Council. This could increase pressure on the 15-nation council to act even though Russia and China vetoed a resolution on the crisis in October.

Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday to respond to Syria's proposal to admit observers in exchange for an end to regional sanctions, the Arab League said.

Mohammed Zaidi, an adviser to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, said a ministerial task force on Syria would hold a preparatory meeting at the 22-member bloc's headquarters on Saturday, ahead of the emergency session.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Tuesday reiterated that the latest spate of security incidents in southern Lebanon was a “message” from Syria, accusing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s allies in Lebanon of carrying out the attacks.

“The truth is that these things just don't happen, it’s a Syrian message from Bashar through his guys in Lebanon,” Hariri said in English, answering a question from a Twitter user.

Syrians were voting Monday in municipal elections held amid a general strike called by the opposition and as security forces killed another seven people as they pursued a crackdown on dissent.

The elections committee, in a statement received by Agence France Presse, said "voting is proceeding in a democratic spirit," adding that voting turnout was "good." It did not elaborate.

Syrian anti-regime protesters want to preserve state institutions to avoid repeating the mistakes made in Iraq, opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun said in an interview published on Sunday.

"The opposition is no longer ready to negotiate with murderers," Ghalioun, the head of the Syrian National Council, told Der Spiegel weekly, referring to the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Members of Iraqi online jihadist forums have called for fighters and arms to be sent to aid Syrians opposing President Bashar al-Assad's regime, who have faced a bloody crackdown since March.

Sunni jihadist sites such as Honein and Ansar al-Mujahedeen display numerous comments and articles critical of Assad's regime, and videos of bloody events they say took place in Syria.

A senior U.S. official said on Sunday that the world is looking for peaceful ways to end "killing and brutality" in Syria, accusing Iran of supporting the murder of Syrian people.

"While the goal of all us is to find ways to stop the killing and brutality, we are looking for peaceful ways to do so," Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, told reporters in Amman.

Syria faced new sanctions after flouting Sunday an Arab League deadline to accept observers to monitor the unrest sweeping the country, which the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people.

A senior Qatari official said Damascus had asked for "new clarifications and further amendments to be made to the protocol which was proposed" to cover the deployment of the observer mission.

Syrian President Bashar Assad personally intervened to persuade Hizbullah to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, revealed the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily on Saturday.

March 8 circles told the daily that the Syrian president sought to fund the STL in order to preserve Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government because the Syrian regime considers it as a “necessity.”

The leader of the main opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) on Friday sought "more concrete" international backing against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"Only collective action by the international community is capable of dissuading the Syrian mafia, now in power, to quit the country or give in to the fight of the Syrian people," Burhan Ghalioun said in Sofia.