The foreign ministers of Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries will hold a meeting next Saturday in Riyadh to discuss the situation in Syria, AFP reported Monday (February 6th).

Omani Foreign Minister Yusuf Ben Alawi told the news agency that the six GCC foreign ministers "will consult and exchange views on the situation in Syria in preparation for the next Arab League meeting on Syria," which is scheduled in Cairo the following day.

He said that the GCC meeting "will discuss the situation after the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution in support of the Arab initiative to solve the Syrian crisis. The ministers will also exchange views on the possibility of reaching a new solution for this problem based on another approach or perspective."

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 29 people were killed in Homs alone, and warned the toll could rise as many of the dozens wounded had critical injuries.

The observatory also said the Syrian army killed three protestors in the Zabadani area near Damascus.

Activists in Homs told the BBC that shelling by the army targeted checkpoints set up by army defectors and gunmen on the outskirts of neighbourhoods. Residents reported a major wave of refugees as a result of deteriorating security.

The Syrian state-run television said that "terrorist" groups blew up a gas pipeline near Homs and another oil pipeline at the area of Jubar near the city.