New explosions and violent acts took place over the weekend across Syria, painting a grim picture of growing chaos and terrorism in the unrest-torn country, as the Arab League (AL) observers' mission to Syria urged an immediate end to the violence.

Head of the AL observer mission Moustafa al-Dabi said on Friday that violence has greatly escalated over the past three days in Syria, especially in the areas of Homs, Idlib, and Hama.

The status quo could not create appropriate conditions for achieving the AL ministerial council's plan to push all parties to sit down for negotiations, Dabi said in a statement issued by the AL's operation room in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, in which he urged an immediate end to the violence to protect the Syrian citizens.

The AL dispatched an observer mission in Syria in late December 2011 to monitor the country's unrest on the ground, but the mission has been criticized as ineffective in stopping the violence.

Syrian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday Damascus accepted the AL's request of extending the Arab observer mission in Syria for another month. But on Sunday, it rejected a new Arab initiative which urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to delegate power to his first vice president.

As the AL mission called for a stop in violence across Syria, several blasts rattled Syrian cities on Friday, including a small explosive device that went off in al-Midan neighborhood in the capital Damascus, which left a 10-year-old boy killed and many others wounded.

Also on Friday, Syrian state-run SANA news agency said that a law-enforcement member was killed by the gunfire of armed groups in al-Midan neighborhood in central Homs province. It added that six civilians were injured when an explosive device went off in al- Boukamal area in eastern Dier al-Zour province.

The private Sham FM radio reported that a suicide bomber blew himself up on Friday while driving his car through a checkpoint in northern Idlib province, injuring two law-enforcement members.

Meanwhile, anti-government protests were held on Friday at several neighborhoods in central Homs province, the Sham FM report said, adding that gunfire crackled across the restive province. It said that unidentified gunmen fired RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) at a branch of the ruling Baath party in al-Hamidiah neighborhood of Homs on Friday, no injuries were reported.

On the other hand, the Local Coordination Committees, a group of opposition activists, reportedly said that a total of 33 people were killed Friday.

According to official reports, more than 20 people were killed over the past three days by armed groups, including government troops, while the opposition estimates that violence killed 80 in that period.

The violence in Syria has further evolved into kidnapping foreign delegations. On Thursday, a group of unknown gunmen attacked an Iranian bus on the road from Damascus to the northwestern city of Aleppo, abducting 11 Iranian men. The assailants drove off to an unknown destination afterwards, leaving the female passengers in the vehicle.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast condemned the kidnapping, calling it inhumane and unjustifiable, the Iranian satellite Press TV reported. "We request the Syrian authorities to employ all means available to ensure the safety of these Iranian nationals and their quick release," he said.

According to the report, the gunmen have contacted the relatives of a kidnapped passenger in Tehran, confirming the abduction of the Iranians and demanding a ransom. It was not known, however, how much the abductors had wanted.