U.S. Senator John McCain raised the prospect Sunday of possible armed intervention to protect civilians in Syria where a crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed more than 3,000 people.

"Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain told a World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan.

European Union leaders are ready to slap more sanctions on Syria failing a halt in the regime's violence against dissenters, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said at the close of a summit Sunday.

EU leaders "expressed grave concern over continued brutality against the population in Syria," Van Rompuy said, adding that if the violence did not stop the bloc "will impose restrictive measures against the regime."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Iran on Sunday not to "miscalculate" in Iraq, saying the U.S. military presence in the region would remain strong after the withdrawal of all American combat forces at the end of the year.

"No one, most particularly Iran, should miscalculate about our continuing commitment to and with the Iraqis going forward," she said in an interview with CNN from Uzbekistan.

Syrian security forces reportedly killed three more civilians on Sunday as troops raided villages in the southern province of Daraa, cradle of the pro-democracy protests.

Activists had called for fresh protests on Sunday under the slogan: "It's your turn" -- a reference to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- hoping to force him out of power in the way Libyans ended the rule of Moammar Gadhafi.

Tunisians formed snaking queues in the sun to vote in their first free election Sunday, basking in their status as democratic trail-blazers nine months after ousting a dictator and giving birth to the Arab Spring.

The Islamist Ennahda party was predicted to win the most votes but fall short of a majority in a new 217-member assembly that will rewrite the constitution and appoint a president to form a caretaker government.

Libya's interim government will hand the body of slain despot Moammar Gadhafi to his relatives after consulting with them on the location of his burial, a senior government advisor said on Sunday.

"The decision has been taken to hand him over to his extended family, because none of his immediate family are present at this moment," Ahmed Jibril told Agence France Presse.

The British embassy in Kuwait reopened its doors to the public Sunday following a temporary suspension of services in the wake of a heightened security threat, a mission spokeswoman said.

"The embassy has resumed all its public services," the spokeswoman told Agence France Presse. "(But) we still have increased security for precautionary measures."

Syria's under-fire president Sunday appointed two new governors in flashpoint provinces that have seen staunch protests against his regime, as security forces reportedly killed two more civilians.

State television said President Bashar al-Assad named new governors for the northwestern province of Idlib and for the Damascus governorate, both of which have seen massive anti-regime demonstrations over the past seven months.

Suspected Islamist militants kidnapped two Spaniards and an Italian working at a refugee camp in western Algeria early Sunday, officials and security sources said.

A colleague of one of the Spanish hostages said over Spanish radio that "several gunshots were heard" and two people were wounded during the kidnapping from the Rabuni camp near Tindouf, mainly inhabited by Sahrawi refugees from Western Sahara who seek greater autonomy.

Britain's new Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said Sunday that the reputation of Libya's new leaders had been "stained" by the killing of ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Hammond said he would like to see an investigation into the death of Gadhafi, who was captured alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte on Thursday.