CAIRO, Egypt -- Intensifying violence left 24 people dead in Syria on Saturday, and Arab League economic ministers voted to impose sanctions on the government, saying leaders have ignored a deadline to end the crackdown on opponents.
At a crisis meeting in Cairo, Egypt, the ministers of the 22-nation league demanded that their countries freeze assets owned by Syrian officials and withdraw investments in Syria.
"Trade exchanges between Arab governments and the Syrian government are to be halted, except for those related to the strategic goods needed by the Syrian people," the ministers said in a statement.
They also said several senior Syrian officials would be barred from traveling through Arab airports and said they will stop dealing with Syria's central bank.
The sanctions were designed to avoid harming the Syrian people, the statement said.
The league's foreign ministers are to meet today for further talks on Syria.
The Arab League had set Friday as a deadline for Damascus to endorse a plan to allow Arab monitors into the country, pull the Syrian army from civilian areas and open dialogue with the opposition.
Syria ignored the deadline.
It wasn't immediately clear, however, whether all league members will agree to sanctions. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari was quoted as saying sanctions were "not possible." And Lebanon has already made clear that it will not vote for economic sanctions.
The official Syrian News Agency SANA said that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem had sent a letter to the Arab League, accusing members of trying to internationalize the crisis in Syria.
On Thursday, Arab diplomats said the league would ask the United Nations to contribute observers to an international mission that Syria is still refusing to allow into the country.
Moallem complained of contradictions in the Arab League position and said that on one hand there were "talks of respecting Syrian sovereignty and avoiding foreign intervention, while on the other there are calls on the UN secretary-general to intervene."
Syria was a founding member of the Arab League, but the organization suspended its membership this month after President Bashar Assad's regime ignored demands to end an eight-month crackdown on protests, in which more than 3,500 people have been killed.
At least 16 civilians and eight members of the security forces were killed in attacks Saturday.
