EU to impose new sanctions on Syria

The European Union has published a list of senior Syrian officials, including several government ministers, targeted by a latest round of sanctions as the death toll from a crackdown on an anti-government uprising continued to grow.

Those added to the list, published in the EU's official journal on Tuesday, included ministers with responsibility for health, education, transport, and communications and technology, who were all accused of providing practical support for the crackdown.

According to the list, Wael Nader Al-Halqi, the minister of health, ordered hospitals to deny care to protesters, while Saleh al-Rashed, the education minister, allowed schools to be used as makeshift prisons.

Emad Abdul-Ghani Sabouni, the minister for communications and technology, seriously hampered free access to the media, while Fayssal Abbas, the minister of transport, provided logistical support for the repression, the journal said.

Others targeted were Mansour Fadlallah Azzam, minister of presidential affairs and an adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad; Sufian Allaw, the petroleum minister; and Adnan Slakho, the minister of industry.

EU foreign ministers approved the sanctions, which also banned the purchase of gold, precious metals and diamonds from the country, and banned Syrian cargo flights from the EU, at a meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The latest tightening of sanctions comes as Syrian activists reported the deaths of more than 125 people across the country, just hours after state television announced that an overwhelming majority of voters had said "yes" to a new constitution on Monday.

In the beseiged city of Homs, at least 64 bodies were reportedly recovered on Monday in a rural area between the villages of Ram al-Enz and Ghajariyeh.

Meanwhile, China has hit out at comments by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on its stance on Syria.

A foreign ministry spokesman called the comments unacceptable, and the official Communist Party newspaper described the criticism as "super arrogant".

Clinton on Friday called China and Russia's veto of a UN resolution on Syria "despicable".

While China is traditionally resistant to interference in other countries' affairs, it has come under intense pressure on Syria.

The Chinese criticism came a day after Syria held a national referendum on a new constitution, amid violent unrest.

The latest reports of violence came as Syrian TV said on Monday that 57.4 per cent of eligible voters had voted a day earlier, with 89.4 per cent saying "yes" and only nine per cent saying "no" to the referendum that Assad's opponents and Western nations have dismissed as a sham.

Victoria Nuland, US state department spokeswoman, asked how a democratic process could take place in the country while Syrian government guns and tanks were still firing.

The approved constitution, framed by a committee of 29 people appointed by Assad, would drop the highly controversial Article 8 in the existing charter, which makes the Baath party "the head of state and society".

That would effectively end the monopoly on power the Baathists have enjoyed since they seized power in a 1963 coup that brought Assad's late father, Hafez, to power.

Under the new charter, the president would maintain his grip on broad powers, as he would still name the prime minister and government and, in some cases, could veto legislation.

Article 88 states that the president can be elected for two seven-year terms, but Article 155 says these conditions only take effect after the next election for a head of state, set for 2014.

This means that Assad could theoretically stay at the helm for another 16 years.

This is Syria's third referendum since Assad inherited power from his late father. The first installed him as president in 2000 with an official 97.2 per cent in favour.

The second renewed his term seven years later with 97.6 per cent in favour.