Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Assad's brother tops Syria sanctions list

EU names 13 Syrian officials on sanctions list, including a brother and influential cousin of president Bashar al-Assad.

Failure to put president Assad on the sanctions list underlines EU splits over the effectiveness of an embargo [AFP]

The European Union has listed 13 Syrian officials on the bloc's sanctions list, including a brother and a wealthy and influential cousin of Bashar al-Assad, the president, and intelligence chiefs.

Maher al-Assad commands Syria's Republican Guard and is considered the second most powerful man in the country.

The EU's official journal, in which the full list was published on Tuesday, described Maher al-Assad as the "principal overseer of violence against demonstrators".

The measures, asset freezes and travel bans, are part of a package of sanctions, including an arms embargo which went into effect on Tuesday, as part of EU efforts to try to force Syria to end violence against anti-government protesters.

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