Thousands of anti-government protesters have occupied the centre of Syria's third largest city, Homs, insisting they will not leave until they bring down the country's leadership.
A woman told the CA by phone crowds were still large late on Monday.
A human rights campaigner said security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had fired shots at the protesters, reports said.
Syria's interior ministry has said the unrest amounts to armed insurrection.
President Assad announced on Saturday that he would end nearly half a century of emergency rule next week - a key demand of the demonstrators.
But Syria's unprecedented wave of protests shows no sign of abating, says the CA's Kim Ghattas in Beirut, neighbouring Lebanon.
'Open-ended'
Activists say that checkpoints have been set up around the square to ensure that people coming in are unarmed civilians.
One man, who said his brother was shot dead in Sunday's protests, told how volunteers were providing the demonstrators with food and water.
Another, Najati Tayyara, told AFP news agency: "More than 20,000 people are taking part in the sit-in at Al-Saa Square and we have renamed it Tahrir Square like the one in Cairo.
"It is an open-ended sit-in which will continue until all our demands are satisfied."
A human rights campaigner, who is in contact with the protesters, told Reuters news agency they had been ordered to leave, before the security forces opened fire and used tear gas.
At least one person was injured, according to the activist.
Funerals were held on Monday for some of those killed in weekend violence in the city, with crowds calling for the end of Mr Assad's rule.
Eight people died in Homs on Sunday after soldiers fired on crowds protesting at the death of a tribal leader in state custody.
'Criminal gangs'
The official news agency has also been reporting on events in Homs.
It said three army officers including a brigadier-general, together with his two sons and a nephew, were ambushed and killed on Sunday by "armed criminal gangs" which then mutilated the bodies with sharp tools. The northern town of Banyas also saw anti-government protests on Sunday.
In a statement, the interior ministry said: "The course of the previous events... have revealed that they are an armed insurrection by armed groups belonging to Salafist organisations, especially in Homs and Banias."
Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al Qaeda.
US state department spokesperson Mark Toner said the Syrian government needed to address the "legitimate aspirations of its people".
A Washington Post report on Monday citing secret US diplomatic cables suggested the US was covertly funding London-based Syrian opposition group Movement for Justice and Development. The US denies the claims.
Human rights groups say at least 200 protesters have been killed in the past four weeks.
The unrest poses the most serious challenge to Mr Assad's rule since he succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, 11 years ago.