Obama condemns Syrian army attack on Homs

US President Barack Obama condemned the Syrian army's attack on demonstrators in the Syrian city of Homs as the international community upped efforts to stop the violence.

The US State Department said that efforts were continuing to put together a "friends of Syria" group of countries.

Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has been dispatched to Morocco, France and Bahrain to discuss the group's membership and its mandate

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had earlier said that his counterpart at the Arab League Nabil El-Araby had proposed sending a mission to Syria with UN help.

He condemned the "appalling brutality" of the military operation in Homs.

One activist network said 110 people were killed in Homs on Thursday as the government continued a push aimed at crushing rebel forces.

Hundreds have been reported killed in the offensive over the past week.

Germany has meanwhile welcomed the possibility of the return of the Arab League mission to the country.

The international community is struggling to find a way to resolve the crisis after Russia and China blocked a UN resolution drafted by Arab and European countries on Saturday calling on President Bashar al-Assad to hand over power to his deputy.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called on Russia to "recognise the reality of the situation on the ground".

Restarting the Arab League mission in partnership with the UN "would serve peace and balance," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said.

Germany had earlier announced it was expelling four diplomats from the Syrian embassy in Berlin, following the recent arrest of two people suspected of spying on Syrian opposition figures in Germany.

Libya said it was giving Syria's charge d'affaires and staff in Tripoli 72 hours to leave the country, months after it recognised the Syrian opposition as the legitimate authority.

Human rights groups and activists say more than 7,000 people have been killed by Syrian security forces since the uprising began last March.

The UN stopped estimating the death toll in Syria after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm.

Assad's government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed.