EU Places Sanctions on Syria

Asset freezes and an arms embargo signify growing international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

The European Union has laid sanctions against leading officials in Syria's Ba'athist regime in an attempt to stop a seven-week crackdown on reform-minded demonstrators. With rights groups estimating that more than 800 civilians have been killed so far, the EU has enacted an arms embargo on Syria and has frozen the assets of 13 officials, but not those of President Bashar al-Assad. His brother, Maher, who leads the Republican Guard, and the head of the Syrian intelligence agency top the list of high-ranking Syrians affected by the freeze. The EU's foreign minister, Baroness Ashton, said if the violence does not stop, more sanctions could be expected to be laid against Assad, whose early promises of reform morphed into bloodshed as protests continued unabated.