EU slaps new sanctions on Assad’s wife, relatives

BRUSSELS (AP) — Officials say that the EU foreign ministers have slapped sanctions on the wife and other close relatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a continuing attempt to stop the regime’s violent crackdown on opposition.

They said four members of the Assad family and eight government ministers have been targeted in the latest round of sanctions. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity, saying that a decision will be announced later Friday following the foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

Asma Assad, 36, was born in London and has British citizenship, and an EU official said that likely meant she could not be banned from travel to the UK.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was very important to increase pressure on the Syrian regime.

“Their behavior continues to be murdering and totally unacceptable in the eyes of the world,” he said on his way into the meeting.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said the sanctions should target “the family of Assad — his wife and his closest relatives. It is necessary.”

Last week, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper released thousands of emails purportedly from Bashar Assad’s private account. They showed him taking advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising, joking about his promises of reform and bypassing US sanctions to shop on iTunes.

The UN estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since an uprising began in Syria a year ago.