The EU “erred” in imposing sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his top aides, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said on Monday, branding the measures a new “black page” in Europe’s history.
Mr. Muallem also said that he expected more measures against Syria, but the measures would not reach military action, according to Agence-France Presse.
Syria characterized the sanctions as interference in Syria’s internal affairs and said that the actions would hurt EU interests.
“Syria won’t remain silent about this measure,” the foreign minister said.
“The European Union decisions have the same purpose as those issued by the United States and they intend a clear and blatant interference in Syria's internal affairs and an attempt to destabilize its security,” an official source was quoted as saying on state news agency SANA.
The European Union tightened sanctions against Syria by imposing restrictions on President Assad on Monday, raising pressure on his government to end violence against pro-democracy protesters, EU diplomats said.
Last week, President Barack Obama of the United States said that sanctions would be applied on Mr. Assad and members of his inner circle.
EU foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add several Syrian officials, including President Assad, to a list people affected by EU travel restrictions and asset freezes.
“Technically, the legal act has been accepted,” one EU diplomat said, according to Reuters, but he added that EU foreign ministers would still discuss the move at the meeting on Monday.
The death toll continued to mount in the 23-million-people nation, after over two months of protests.
One EU diplomat told Agence-France Presse, “The aim of the sanctions is to stop the violence and press President Assad to agree to a process of reform, but not to force him to step down.”
Tightening the screws on the Assad regime, the EU has already slapped an arms embargo as well as a visa ban and assets freeze against the president’s brother, four of his cousins, and others in his inner circle.
Thousands of Syrians attending the funerals of pro-democracy protesters called on Sunday for the removal of President Assad, witnesses said, in the latest outburst against his rule.
Separately, protesters took to the streets in an eastern town after a 17-year-old activist burned himself to death on Friday, campaigners said, an incident that echoed the self-immolation of a vegetable seller in Tunisia last year that sparked protests across the Arab world.
“The people want the overthrow of the regime,” mourners chanted on Sunday as they streamed out of the Big Mosque in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, one witness told Reuters.
The slogan echoed the rallying cry of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt this year that unseated their leaders.
The protests that brought down Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali erupted after the suicide of 26-year-old Mohammed Bouazizi on December 17 because police seized his grocery cart.
President Assad, 46, has largely dismissed the protests as part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to sow sectarian strife in Syria.
Syrian authorities blame most of the upheaval on “armed saboteur groups,” backed by Islamists and foreign powers, which they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police.
On Sunday, witnesses said mourners at Nour Mosque in the central city of Homs shouted “Leave, leave,” at the funeral of six out of 11 people that rights groups said were killed by security services on Saturday.
“The shooting was in cold blood. People were streaming peacefully out of the cemetery,” a resident of Homs said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said it had the names of 863 civilians who had been killed in shootings by security forces since the pro-democracy uprising erupted 10 weeks ago.
A human rights campaigner said 17-year-old activist Mohammad Akram al-Tomah set himself alight in the eastern town of Mayadeen on Friday, days after state security agents released him from custody.
The campaigner told Reuters a large protest followed Tumah’s funeral in Mayadeen on Saturday and a small protest occurred on Sunday, both demanding Assad’s overthrow.
Syria has barred most international media since the protests broke out two months ago, making it difficult to verify accounts of the violence.
The United States had been trying to patch up relations with Assad to wean him off an anti-Israel alliance with Iran, but reports of the crackdown have turned Washington against the Syrian leader.
President Obama told Mr. Assad on Thursday to lead a transformation to democracy or step aside.
The US State Department said in a statement “the Assad regime remains the source of instability as it foments violence by meeting peaceful protests with deadly force and mass arrests.”
Syria’s state news agency said on Saturday that armed groups killed 17 people on Friday in the provinces of Idlib and Homs.
It said the interior ministry had instructed the police “not to shoot, to preserve the lives of civilians,” and blamed the violence on the armed groups.
The unrest has posed a grave challenge to President Assad’s authoritarian rule, which has increasingly turned vicious.
Although he has lifted a 48-year state of emergency and issued a decree to grant citizenship to stateless Kurds, Mr. Assad also sent tanks to several cities to ruthlessly stamp out protests, witnesses said.
(Dina Al-Shibeeb, an editor at Al Arabiya
Mr. Muallem also said that he expected more measures against Syria, but the measures would not reach military action, according to Agence-France Presse.
Syria characterized the sanctions as interference in Syria’s internal affairs and said that the actions would hurt EU interests.
“Syria won’t remain silent about this measure,” the foreign minister said.
“The European Union decisions have the same purpose as those issued by the United States and they intend a clear and blatant interference in Syria's internal affairs and an attempt to destabilize its security,” an official source was quoted as saying on state news agency SANA.
The European Union tightened sanctions against Syria by imposing restrictions on President Assad on Monday, raising pressure on his government to end violence against pro-democracy protesters, EU diplomats said.
Last week, President Barack Obama of the United States said that sanctions would be applied on Mr. Assad and members of his inner circle.
EU foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to add several Syrian officials, including President Assad, to a list people affected by EU travel restrictions and asset freezes.
“Technically, the legal act has been accepted,” one EU diplomat said, according to Reuters, but he added that EU foreign ministers would still discuss the move at the meeting on Monday.
The death toll continued to mount in the 23-million-people nation, after over two months of protests.
One EU diplomat told Agence-France Presse, “The aim of the sanctions is to stop the violence and press President Assad to agree to a process of reform, but not to force him to step down.”
Tightening the screws on the Assad regime, the EU has already slapped an arms embargo as well as a visa ban and assets freeze against the president’s brother, four of his cousins, and others in his inner circle.
Thousands of Syrians attending the funerals of pro-democracy protesters called on Sunday for the removal of President Assad, witnesses said, in the latest outburst against his rule.
Separately, protesters took to the streets in an eastern town after a 17-year-old activist burned himself to death on Friday, campaigners said, an incident that echoed the self-immolation of a vegetable seller in Tunisia last year that sparked protests across the Arab world.
“The people want the overthrow of the regime,” mourners chanted on Sunday as they streamed out of the Big Mosque in the Damascus suburb of Saqba, one witness told Reuters.
The slogan echoed the rallying cry of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt this year that unseated their leaders.
The protests that brought down Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali erupted after the suicide of 26-year-old Mohammed Bouazizi on December 17 because police seized his grocery cart.
President Assad, 46, has largely dismissed the protests as part of a foreign-backed conspiracy to sow sectarian strife in Syria.
Syrian authorities blame most of the upheaval on “armed saboteur groups,” backed by Islamists and foreign powers, which they say have killed more than 120 soldiers and police.
On Sunday, witnesses said mourners at Nour Mosque in the central city of Homs shouted “Leave, leave,” at the funeral of six out of 11 people that rights groups said were killed by security services on Saturday.
“The shooting was in cold blood. People were streaming peacefully out of the cemetery,” a resident of Homs said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said it had the names of 863 civilians who had been killed in shootings by security forces since the pro-democracy uprising erupted 10 weeks ago.
A human rights campaigner said 17-year-old activist Mohammad Akram al-Tomah set himself alight in the eastern town of Mayadeen on Friday, days after state security agents released him from custody.
The campaigner told Reuters a large protest followed Tumah’s funeral in Mayadeen on Saturday and a small protest occurred on Sunday, both demanding Assad’s overthrow.
Syria has barred most international media since the protests broke out two months ago, making it difficult to verify accounts of the violence.
The United States had been trying to patch up relations with Assad to wean him off an anti-Israel alliance with Iran, but reports of the crackdown have turned Washington against the Syrian leader.
President Obama told Mr. Assad on Thursday to lead a transformation to democracy or step aside.
The US State Department said in a statement “the Assad regime remains the source of instability as it foments violence by meeting peaceful protests with deadly force and mass arrests.”
Syria’s state news agency said on Saturday that armed groups killed 17 people on Friday in the provinces of Idlib and Homs.
It said the interior ministry had instructed the police “not to shoot, to preserve the lives of civilians,” and blamed the violence on the armed groups.
The unrest has posed a grave challenge to President Assad’s authoritarian rule, which has increasingly turned vicious.
Although he has lifted a 48-year state of emergency and issued a decree to grant citizenship to stateless Kurds, Mr. Assad also sent tanks to several cities to ruthlessly stamp out protests, witnesses said.
(Dina Al-Shibeeb, an editor at Al Arabiya
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