European Union bans arms shipment to Syria

The European Union banned the shipment of arms and other equipment that could be used for internal repression.The EU also prohibited 13 Syrian officials and associates of the Syrian regime from traveling anywhere in the 27-nation union, and has frozen their assets. The 13 had been identified as being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population.An EU official had said last week that Syrian President Bashar Assad would not be among those sanctioned. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for disclosing confidential information.The EU will publish the names of those who were sanctioned in its official journal on Tuesday.