Syria is not complying with a crucial ceasefire plan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has admitted.
The peace plan, coordinated by international envoy Kofi Annan, is currently being monitored by an advance team of UN officials ahead of the deployment of a larger peacekeeping force.
Describing the government as "in contravention" of the plan, Ban said.
He added through his spokesperson that he "remains deeply troubled" by President Assad's apparent refusal to remove tanks and soldiers from residential areas.
Ban said that Syria must comply with the plan ahead of the arrival of more UN peacekeepers.
Meanwhile France said it would wait no longer than 5 May before seeking a new resolution at the United Nations demanding Syria stop its aggression against protesters.
The new resolution could include reference to the use of force, despite there being virtually no chance of such a wording being accepted by China or Russia, who have vetoed previous resolutions.
On Thursday alleged video footage of a Syrian activist being buried alive for supplying video clips to newspapers surfaced online.
The clip, which could not be independently verified by the Huffington Post UK, shows a blindfolded man buried up to his neck in dirt and rocks, pleading for his life.
Armed guards point weapons at his face, while others pick up shovels and bury him above his head.
'There is no god but God,' the man says, in Arabic. 'There is no god but Bashar,' the loyalists reportedly reply.
In the clip, which is extremely disturbing, the man is covered by the rocks and eventually falls silent.
Meanwhile in the city of Hama a bomb attack on a residential building left at least 70 people dead.
Activists claimed the bombing was carried out by government forces, while state media reported militants had accidentally exploded a makeshift device.
More than 100 people have been killed in Hama in recent days as a supposed ceasefire continues to unravel.
More than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising in March 2011, according to the UN.