Wednesday, Sep 14, 2011

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   By Laurence Norman 
   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--The European Union has reached a political deal which would significantly broaden the sanctions on Syria over the country's violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, diplomats said Wednesday.

The detail of some of the new measures, which are all intended to be in place by next week's meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, are still to be hammered out.

There is a political deal on several new measures.

One is a widely expected ban on European investment in Syria's oil sector. Secondly, there is agreement on a German proposal to ban Syria from importing bank notes from the EU, where many of them are printed.

There is also agreement on targeting Syrian telecommunications company Syriatel, the largest mobile phone operator in Syria, diplomats said, after Sweden agreed to let the measure go through late Tuesday.

There had been concerns that targeting Syriatel could make it harder for Syrian civilians and for foreign embassy staff to communicate, diplomats said.

In addition, the EU will target several companies with ties to the Syrian military. They include a company that provides steel for military barracks and another firm which manufacturers clothing for the Syrian armed forces, one diplomat said.

These measures still need a formal sign-off from member states but are set to be formally adopted next Monday.

The EU is also working on additional measures that would be announced in time for the UN meeting which starts Sept. 21. These include targeting a commercial bank and a number of additional Syrian officials with an asset freeze and an arms and travel embargo.

There is no final political deal on these measures yet and a further round of discussions will be held Thursday among member state officials.

The EU has already targeted more than 50 Syrian individuals and around a dozen Syrian companies over the regime's crackdown.

Most recently, the EU banned Syrian crude oil exports and broadened the scope of its sanctions regime.

The EU has also joined the U.S. in officially calling for Assad to quit power.

-By Laurence Norman, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1481; laurence.norman@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

14-09-11 1129GMT