The Arab League chief condemned on Saturday two deadly bombings against Syrian security forces in Damascus, saying the attacks would not affect a mission of observers to oversee an end to the bloodshed.

Nabil al-Arabi, who met the mission's head, Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi on Saturday as he prepared to leave for Damascus, also called for "an immediate end to all violence and killings by any side."

Syria's principal ally, Iran, on Saturday said it "strongly condemned" attacks by suicide bombers in Damascus on Friday that reportedly killed more than 40 people.

The Iranian foreign ministry issued a statement, quoted by the state IRNA news agency, condemning the blasts and offering condolences to the victims' families.

The bodies of four Syrians who had been arrested were found Saturday with signs of torture in restive Homs province, activists said, urging a visiting Arab League team to document the cases.

"The corpses of four citizens were found this morning in the streets of the town of Hula and a fifth citizen was found in a critical condition," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A war of words is heating up between Hizbullah and Washington, with allegations and counter-allegations flying between the two foes as the crisis in Syria takes its toll on the Shiite group.

The cold war between Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hizbullah and the United States runs back decades.

The U.N. Security Council on Friday condemned suicide attacks in the Syrian capital but remained deadlocked on a full resolution on the crisis with the Russian and U.S. ambassadors trading personal barbs.

Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin hit out at what he called the "Stanford dictionary of expletives" used against him by U.S. ambassador Susan Rice.

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Friday the freezing of assets of more Syrians loyal to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, as well as a beefed-up trade ban.

"Canada will continue to put the squeeze on the Assad regime," Baird said. "We will not sit idly by, not while Assad and his thugs continue to violate the rights of the Syrian people."

The Lebanese government remained tight-lipped on Saturday on Syrian claims that Lebanon had warned Damascus about the infiltration of al-Qaida members into Syria from its territories.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour was only quoted as saying that “Lebanon hasn’t officially notified the Syrian foreign ministry about the infiltration of al-Qaida members to Syria.”

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon is "gravely concerned" at escalating violence in Syria but the onus is on President Bashar al-Assad to fully carry out an Arab League peace plan, a spokesman said Friday.

Ban spoke out as the U.N. Security Council stepped up wrangling over a resolution on the Syria crisis. While the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in the government crackdown, the Security Council has failed to agree any formal resolution on Syria.

Britain said on Friday suicide bombings in Syria that killed at least 40 people must not undermine an Arab League plan aimed at ending the bloodshed.

"I condemn the bomb attacks in central Damascus today and regret the loss of life and injury I have heard reported," said Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt in a statement.

The suicide bombings which struck Damascus Friday killing 40 people must not hamper the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria, a U.S. official said Friday, condemning the attacks.

"It is crucial that today's attack not impede the critical work of the Arab League monitoring mission to document and deter human rights abuses with the goal of protecting civilians," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.