5 February 2012 Last updated at 02:04 GMT
BBC
Paul Wood, and cameraman Fred Scott, were smuggled into Homs
Western nations have deplored the vetoing by Russia and China of a UN resolution condemning the crackdown in Syria on anti-government protests.
The US said the veto was "shameful", while Britain said it "lets the Syrian people down". France also condemned the block at the UN Security Council.
Russia and China said the proposed draft was "unbalanced".
The document was rejected just hours after activists accused Syrian troops of killing at least 55 people in Homs.
A BBC correspondent who entered the Syrian city with rebels after the vote says gun and shell fire can be heard there.
'Disgusted'
The US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, described the veto on Saturday as "shameful".
It showed, she said, how Russia and China aimed to "sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant".
"Any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands," Ms Rice added.
She later wrote on Twitter: "Disgusted that Russia and China prevented the UN Security Council from fuliflling its sole purpose."
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said the approach by Moscow and Beijing "lets the Syrian people down, and will only encourage President (Bashar) Assad's brutal regime to increase the killing".
In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement that he "strongly deplores" the veto.
But he added that his country would not give up seeking a solution. "The Syrian tragedy must stop," he said.
Mohammed Loulichki, Morocco's ambassador to the UN and the sole Arab member of the current council, voiced "great regret and disappointment" that Moscow and Beijing had struck it down.
The Arab draft resolution, supported by all 13 other members of the Security Council, had adopted an Arab League call for a "Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system".
However, Russia said it singled out the government of President Assad, and did not contain measures against armed opposition groups.
Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, said the draft had lacked balance.
"Some influential members of the international community unfortunately... have been undermining the opportunity for political settlement, calling for a regime change, pushing the oppositionists to power," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to have talks with Mr Assad in Damascus on Tuesday.
Beijing's ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong, said the resolution would have been counter-productive.
"China maintains that, under the current circumstances, to put undue emphasis on pressuring the Syrian government... or impose any solution will not help resolve the Syrian issue," he said.
Pro-Assad residents in the Syrian capital Damascus welcomed the Sino-Russian stance.
"I believe there are more important issues for the Security Council to take care of... such as the starvation in Somalia, and Gaza," one told BBC News.
"Isn't there anything else apart from us for the Security Council to deal with?"
'Hysterical campaign'
US Ambassador Susan Rice: "For months this council has been held hostage by a couple of members"
Early accounts of the casualties in Homs on Saturday talked of as many as 200 deaths, but one of the main activist groups later revised its confirmed toll down to 55.
Fighting in Homs has continued into the evening, the BBC's Paul Woods reports from a rooftop in a suburb of the city.
Our correspondent and his cameraman heard a lot of heavy machine-gun fire and unexplained explosions when they entered the city during the afternoon, travelling with activists who were carrying supplies of fresh blood to treat casualties.
Homs appeared to have come under a "pretty relentless" bombardment on Friday, our correspondent adds, and parts of the city which oppose the regime have been cut off.
Homs was one of the first cities to join anti-Assad protests, and became one of the focal points of dissent after government forces fired on crowds in April last year. Many army defectors have sought refuge in the city.
State media dismissed the Homs casualty reports as a "hysterical campaign of incitement" by armed gangs designed to influence the UN.
International media outlets are restricted in Syria, making it difficult to verify the claims of either side.
Tunisia moved to sever relations with the Assad government following the Homs violence
Activists have been attacking Syrian embassies around the world in response to the violence in Homs.
Syria has been gripped by nationwide protests against Mr Assad's government for almost a year, in a struggle that has claimed at least 5,400 lives, according to the UN.
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