Arab League approves unprecedented sanctions on Syria

(27 Nov 2011) 1. Wide of news conference to announce sanctions on Syria 2. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sheik Hamad Bin Jassim, Qatari Foreign Minister: "The council has decided to ban all Syrian officials from travel to Arab countries, 2) to cut off transactions with the Syrian central bank, 3) to halt trade with the Syrian government, except for strategic products that would affect the Syrian people, 4) to freeze all monetary accounts of the Syrian government." 3. Cutaway of Arab League logo 4. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Sheik Hamad Bin Jassim, Qatari Foreign Minister: "All the work we are doing is to avoid interfering but if the international community does not take us seriously on this matter and get a result, I cannot guarantee that there will be no interfering." 5. Mid of media STORYLINE The Arab League has approved sanctions against Syria to pressure the regime to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent. Damascus slammed the move as a betrayal of Arab solidarity. Qatar Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 19 of the League's 22 member nations approved the sanctions at the meeting in Cairo, including cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank and halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria. "The council has decided to ban all Syrian officials from travel to Arab countries, 2) to cut off transactions with the Syrian central bank, 3) to halt trade with the Syrian government, except for strategic products that would affect the Syrian people, 4) to freeze all monetary accounts of the Syrian government," Bin Jassim said. The League's step was unprecedented against an Arab nation. Syria is facing mounting international pressure to end its violent suppression of protests against President Bashar Assad, which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people since March. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...