Official: Arab League to consider sanctions against Syria
- The measures include banning flights to and from Syria
- Bahrain encourages its citizens to leave Syria amid the unrest
- Fresh clashes erupt on Sunday
- 25 Syrian army and security forces are dead, official media reports
(CNN) — Foreign ministers from Arab League countries will meet Sunday to discuss whether to slap economic sanctions against the Syrian regime for its part in a bloody crackdown on civilian demonstrators, a senior league official said.
On Saturday, Arab League finance ministers recommended that economic sanctions be levied against the Syrian government.
State-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) called the move an "unprecedented procedure (that) contradicts the rules of the economic and trade cooperation among the Arab countries and targets the Syrian people."
Damascus had failed to respond to a Friday deadline for it to allow Arab League observers into the Middle Eastern country to monitor the government's response to civil unrest.
The slate of sanctions proposed Saturday in Cairo — which were opposed by Algeria and Iraq — include barring any private or commercial airlines from the league's 22 member states from flying into or out of Syria.
In addition, all assets belonging to the Syrian government and its officials would be frozen so they couldn't be accessed, and Syrian officials would not be allowed to visit Arab League countries.
Pictures on SANA's website on Saturday showed people packed in the city of Lattakia, reportedly to decry "the Arab League decisions and foreign interference in the Syrian internal affairs."
Arab League mulls Syria sanctions 
Syria denies crackdown 
Turkey to Syrian pres.: Leave your seat 
Circumventing Syria's cyber warfareThe instability in Syria has prompted Bahrain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urge all citizens in Syria to leave, according to the Bahraini news agency BNA. The ministry also said citizens should avoid traveling to Syria for their own safety, BNA said.
Arab League mulls Syria sanctions Syria denies crackdown Turkey to Syrian pres.: Leave your seat Circumventing Syria's cyber warfareMore clashes erupted in Syria on Sunday, with five civilians killed and four wounded, the Syria Observatory for Human Rights said.
State-run SANA, meanwhile, reported that 25 army and security force members were buried Saturday.
"The martyrs were killed in the line of duty by the armed terrorist groups in the governorates of Damascus Countryside, Homs and Hama," the report said.
"The families of the martyrs expressed pride in their sons' martyrdom … stressing that Syria will remain steadfast in the face of the conspiracy which targets its unity and stability."
CNN cannot independently verify reports from either side, since Syria's government has restricted access to international news organizations.
Since March, protesters in cities across the country have demanded President Bashar al-Assad's ouster and democratic elections.
The United Nations estimated this month that more than 3,500 Syrians have died in the subsequent government crackdown, said Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Al-Assad's government has consistently blamed armed gangs for the violence.
Adding to the pressure on Damascus, the United Nations Committee Against Torture said Friday it is "deeply concerned about gross and pervasive human rights violations in Syria," which are allegedly taking place "in a context of impunity."
"Of particular concern are reports referring to children who have suffered torture and mutilation while detained; as well as cases of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; arbitrary detention by police forces and the military; and enforced and involuntary disappearances," said Claudio Grossman, who heads the expert panel.
Reliable sources indicate the abuses "are allegedly conducted under direct orders from public authorities, at their instigation or with their consent or acquiescence," Grossman said.
The committee has asked Syria to provide a special report indicating that it is abiding by its obligations under the U.N. Convention against Torture, to which Syria is a signatory.
Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.
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© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Original Page: http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/27/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?eref=rss_topstories