Syria immediately rejected the moves, spelled out in a resolution adopted on Sunday by the league's foreign ministers meeting in Cairo.

Arab foreign ministers also decided to halt all diplomatic dealings with representatives of the Syrian government, though they did not demand the expulsion of Syrian ambassadors from member states.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal conveyed the 22-nation league's deep frustration with Syria, telling delegates that it was no longer appropriate to stand by and watch the bloodshed.

"Until when will we remain spectators?'' he said. The bloodshed in Syria, "is a disgrace for us as Muslims and Arabs to accept".

The new efforts came a week after Russia and China vetoed a resolution at the UN Security Council that would have supported an earlier Arab League plan for Assad to give up power and begin a transition to a new government.

But Nabil el-Arabi, the league's chairman, said he had received a message from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that expressed support for the league's efforts and an expanded "observer" mission. Lavrov earlier defended Russia's veto and subsequently visited with Assad in Damascus.

The league suspended an observer mission in Syria last month, and on Sunday Arabi accepted the resignation of Sudanese General Mohammed al-Dabi, who led the troubled mission. Arabi recommended appointing former Jordanian foreign minister and UN envoy to Libya Abdel Ilah al-Khatib as Dabi's replacement.

Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said the request for a peacekeeping force raised a number of questions, including whether Syria would agree and which Arab countries might contribute troops.

Syria's state news agency said the country rejected the Arab League decisions, which were taken without a Syrian representative present.

Syria's ambassador to the Arab League, Ahmed Youssef, was quoted as saying that Saudi Arabia and Qatar were "living in a state of hysteria after their last failure at the UN Security Council to call for outside interference in Syria's affairs and to impose sanctions on the Syrian people".

The United Nations has historically deployed armed peacekeepers only with the host country's consent.

Arab foreign ministers have been engaging in "intensive talks" with Russia and China and are hoping they can help encourage Assad to accept a peacekeeping force as an alternative to escalating conflict, Rageh said.

The league also agreed to step up economic sanctions and provide the Syrian opposition with political and financial support, though it again refrained from recognising the Syrian National Council - the most prominent of anti-Assad groups.

"Its a very difficult process to recognise the SNC - the Arab League made it clear to the opposition that the body as a whole cannot do it, but rather the individual countries will need to do that on their own," Rageh said.

Tunisia will host a "Friends of Syria" meeting on February 24 to attempt to build an international consensus on how to end the violence. Tunisia's foreign minister said the meeting will include Arab, regional and international states, and Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the country's foreign minister, said he backed the proposal.