EU to blacklist Assad's wife, mother and sister

The EU is to add the Syrian leader's wife, mother, sister and sister-in-law to its blacklist at a foreign minister's meeting in Brussels on Friday (23 March).

The new visa ban and asset freeze also covers eight members of President Bashar Assad's government and two oil firms.

Opposition groups, such as the Syrian National Council (SNC), want much more.

SNC spokesman, Radwan Ziadeh, told EUobserver that Nato should launch air-strikes against Assad's tanks, enforce a no-fly z...