EU agrees new sanctions on Syria

European Union agreed Monday to impose new sanctions on the Syrian regime by banning exports of luxury goods and items used to suppress demonstrators, a diplomat said. These sanctions will be put in Syria, the diplomat said after EU ambassadors endorsed the measures ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The extent of the luxury ban has yet to be defined but the aim is to deliver a symbolic blow against the posh lifestyle of President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, another diplomat said. The Assad couple, as well as his inner circle and leaders of the regime must be made to understand that events in Syria will also impact their personal lives," the source added. Brussels also decided to expand the blacklist of dual-use goods which can be used for internal repression or for the manufacturing of equipment used for internal repression.