France will ask the United States and its EU partners to impose a new set of sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, French Foreign Minister Lorain Fabius said on Wednesday.
“We want to step up pressure on the Damascus regime by intensifying sanctions, which means that I will speak without delay to my European and American colleagues and propose that [our] foreign ministers adopt a new series of sanctions at their next meeting,” Fabius said.
“They should apply not only to Bashar al-Assad and his clique but also to military commanders.”
At present, dozens of officials and organizations associated with Assad are under EU sanctions that include the freezing of assets and denial of visas.
The UN says at least 12,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against the rule of Assad began in March 2011.
