As Syria is cracking down harder on so-called armed groups, the international community is ratcheting up economic and diplomatic pressure on the country.

Meanwhile, analysts said the situation in Syria appears to be deteriorating and that an end to the crisis remains nowhere in sight.

Over the past two weeks, while Syria was racing against time to restore security and stability by cracking down on alleged armed groups, the opposition armed forces have been showing their defiance as the constitutional referendum is set to be held on Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, countries in the Arab world as well as the West have threatened to tighten economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria and to support the opposition.

Their recent measures include withdrawing their ambassadors to Syria and promoting the upcoming international meeting called "Friends of Syria."

The meeting, set to be held in Tunisia, reportedly aims to unify the opposition groups as a strong force against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Analysts said that the 11-month-long unrest in Syria has been worsening due to intervention from the United States and other Western and Arab countries, and that the fight between various groups and forces inside and outside Syria appears to have entered a crucial phase.

Though Arab League (AL) envoy to Russia Giuma al-Ferjani said earlier this week that neither Syrian opposition groups nor international powers want foreign military intervention in Syria, some analysts have pointed out that allowing Arab peacekeeping forces in Syria means the AL is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Therefore, they argued, Syria's political crisis should be again referred to the international community, and the game could become fiercer as relevant sides in the region are taking their own interests into account.

The AL called on the United Nations on Feb. 12 to form joint UN-AL peacekeeping forces for Syria to stop all violence against civilians in the turmoil-hit country.

According to the resolution, the pan-Arab body asked its members to stop all diplomatic cooperation with the Syrian government in international conferences and institutions.

The resolution stipulated the procedures for an economic embargo against Syria and for an end to trade dealings with the Syrian government.

The AL also called for opening communication channels with the Syrian opposition and providing it with all forms of political and financial support.

Ashraf Abo Hol, deputy editor of the political department of Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, told Xinhua that the situation in Syria differs from that in Libya, where the opposition forces are very strong and organized, and the opposition's attacks were processed from the cities to the capital.

He said that Assad is still in firm control of two important Syrian cities, Damascus and Aleppo, and has gained the favor of the Shiite and those who are wary of the Israelis taking advantage of the situation.

However, he said, Syria's future remains uncertain because there are a lot of factions in the country.

Making matters worse, the other countries have not yet reached a consensus on the crisis in Syria.

Referring to the "Friends of Syria" conference, the Russian foreign ministry said the "one-sided" meeting wouldn't help solve the crisis if the government doesn't do its part.

Russia is a staunch supporter of a national dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition groups without preconditions as well as coordinated stands between the two sides for carrying out reforms.

Iran, Syria's close ally, said that the West has no hopes of seeing a settlement in Syria, noting that stability in Syria could only be achieved through dialogue.

Yet the United Nations, the European Union and the United States have confirmed their participation in the conference scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25 in Tunis, while dismissing Syria's planned referendum as "a mockery of the Syrian revolution."