The Arab League has approved unprecedented sanctions against Syria in response to the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on an opposition uprising.

Qatari Foreign Minister Hamas bin Jassim told reporters in Cairo Sunday that 19 of the 22 Arab League member nations approved the sanctions. The measures include halting transactions with Syria's central bank, imposing a travel ban on top Syrian officials, and stopping investments for projects in Syria.

The sanctions approval is a blow for Syria, which has long prided itself as a bastion of Arab nationalism. The Associated Press says Damascus protested the Arab League's decision to impose sanctions, calling it a “betrayal.”

Arab League sanctions add to the pressure on the Syrian economy that U.S. and European Union sanctions have had on exports of Syrian oil and other products.

Arab officials proposed the sanctions after Syria refused to accept a Friday deadline they set to allow league observers into the country to monitor the government's response to the uprising. Syria instead asked the league for clarifications of the observers' mission.

Syrian rights activists say security forces killed at least 27 civilians in crackdowns on protest hubs on Saturday, with most of the fatalities in the central province of Homs. Syrian state news agency SANA also says 25 security personnel were buried Saturday after being killed by what it calls “armed terrorists” in the Damascus countryside and the regions of Homs and Hama.

There was no independent confirmation of the casualties because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating in the country.

Syrian army defectors known as the Free Syrian Army have carried out increasingly deadly attacks on government forces in recent weeks, militarizing what had previously been a largely peaceful movement calling for an end to President Assad's 11-year autocratic rule.

Iraq and Lebanon have expressed reservations about punishing Syria for the crackdown. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari expressed concern Saturday about the fate of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria and the trade relationship between the two neighbors. It is not clear how effective Arab League sanctions against Syria will be if members such as Iraq refuse to implement them.

The United Nations says more than 3,500 people have been killed since March in connection with the uprising.