"Euronews": The Arab League approved sanctions against Syria.

The Arab League overwhelmingly approved sanctions against Syria yesterday to pressure Damascus to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on protestors, an unprecedented move by the league against an Arab state.

Before the vote, Syria slammed the vote as a betrayal of Arab solidarity.

At a news conference in Cairo, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 19 of the 22 member nations approved the sanctions, which include cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank and halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria.

Iraq and Lebanon abstained. "We aim to avoid any suffering for the Syrian people," bin Jassim said.

The sanctions are the latest in a growing wave of international pressure pushing Syria to end its violent suppression of protests against President Bashar Assad, which the United Nations says has killed more than 3,500 people since March.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the bloc will reconsider the sanctions if Syria carries out an Arab-brokered peace plan that includes sending observers to the country and pulling tanks from the streets.

"We call on Syria to quickly approve the Arab initiative," he said.

The state-owned Al-Thawra newspaper ran a front-page headline yesterday saying the Arab League was calling for "economic and commercial sanctions targeting the Syrian people." It said the measure is "unprecedented and contradicts the rules of Arab cooperation."

Since the revolt began, the government has blamed armed gangs acting out a foreign conspiracy for the bloodshed.

It is not clear whether Arab sanctions will succeed in pressuring the Syrian government into ending the violence.

Until recently, most of the bloodshed was caused by security forces firing on protestors. Lately, there have been growing reports of army defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad's forces.

Yesterday, activists reported fierce clashes in the flashpoint city of Homs, in central Syria, pitting soldiers against army defectors.

The Arab League's recommendations for sanctions specified that the Arab bloc will assist Syria with emergency aid through the help of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, working with local civilian groups to deliver goods.

There have been widespread concerns that the unrest in Syria could spill outside its borders, sending unsettling ripples across the region.

Syria is a geographical and political keystone in the heart of the Middle East, bordering five countries with whom it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of allegiances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh acknowledged that 100 Syrian military and police deserters had taken refuge in the kingdom during the uprising. It was the first official public confirmation that Jordan hosts Syrian defectors.