Syria: 13 Dead as Crackdown Continues

Syria: 13 Dead as Crackdown Continues

13 dead in Syria as Bashar Assad’s continues assault on protesters. Meanwhile, EU adopts new sanctions against Syria.

by Elad Benari

First Publish: 9/2/2011, 10:16 PM

Assad

Wikimedia Commons

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s assault on protests continued Friday, with activists reporting that at least 13 people were killed.
The activists told The Associated Press security forces had fired on thousands of anti-government protesters and surrounded mosques to prevent worshippers from streaming into the streets to join the rallies.
Most of the 13 deaths were in the Damascus suburb of Arbeen and nearby areas, the activists said. Syrian troops were also reportedly in cities including Homs in central Syria, Daraa in the south and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour.
The protesters reportedly marched under the slogan “Death Rather Than Humiliation”, a slogan which reflects a growing frustration among activists that their largely peaceful gatherings have failed to crack the regime.
Meanwhile on Friday, the European Union adopted new sanctions against Syria. The sanctions, which had been announced a day earlier, include a ban on Syrian oil imports.
The oil embargo is significant because Syria gets about 28 percent of its revenue from the oil trade and sells fuel to France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Syria exports some 150,000 barrels of oil per day, with the vast majority going to the European Union.
A European Union trade spokesman, John Clancy, told AP on Friday Syria earned 3.1 billion euros ($4.4 billion) by selling oil to the EU in 2010.
“The impact of the ban in terms of EU oil supply is very minimal, but the impact on the financing of the Syrian regime is quite substantial,” Clancy told AP.
He added that without that revenue, Syria will likely burn far more quickly through the $17 billion in foreign reserves it had at the start of the uprising.
The EU ban covers the purchase, import and transport of oil and other petroleum products from Syria. European banks have been banned from opening credit lines for such sales, and insurance companies are now prohibited from insuring the cargos.
In addition to the oil ban, four more Syrian individuals and three entities were added to an EU list of those facing an asset freeze and travel ban. The embargo takes effect on Saturday but existing contracts can be fulfilled until November 15.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, meanwhile, explained on Friday, why the EU, which in the past has been reluctant to ban Syrian oil and gas imports, changed its position.
Juppe said that EU nations were hoping the oil ban would send an unmistakable message that “the behavior of the Syrian regime has been unacceptable.”
“We cannot accept such brutal repression against the aspirations of the people,” Juppe told AP.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)