EU countries agreed on Friday to ban imports of Syrian oil and extend sanctions to seven new Syrian individuals and entities to intensify pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Reuters reports.
The United States, the EU and other Western powers want Assad to end a violent five-month-old crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that the United Nations says has killed 2,000 civilians. But Assad shows no sign of heeding their calls for him to step down.
The EU has already banned Europeans from doing business with dozens of Syrian officials, government institutions and military-linked firms tied to the violence, but those measures seem to have had little influence on Assad's policy.
EU imposes oil embargo on Syria
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