BREAKING NEWS

EU welcomes Arab League sanctions on Syria

The European Union on Monday welcomed unprecedented Arab League sanctions imposed on Syria, casting them as a response to the "brutality and unwillingness to change course" of the Damascus government.
"Sanctions by the Arab League as well as the restrictive measures applied by the EU are a reaction to the regime's brutality and unwillingness to chance course,"  said Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Arab states agreed on Sunday to impose economic measures - the toughest against a member state - that include a travel ban on top Syrian officials and a freeze on assets related to President Bashar Assad's government.
EU governments are expected to approve on Thursday a new round of sanctions aimed at raising pressure on Assad over his military crackdown on an eight-month-old wave of popular unrest.