LUXEMBOURG - The European Union foreign policy chief says the EU is moving to widen its sanctions against Syria because of the continuing repression in the country.
Catherine Ashton said at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday that a third round of measures will be necessary, especially after President Bashar Assad's "disappointing" speech over the weekend in which he criticized alleged foreign intervention in the Arab nation.
One official said last week said that any new action would add Syria's largest commercial bank as a sanctions target.
British foreign secretary William Hague said the ministers will assess "what further pressure we can apply to the Syrian regime to stop the killing."
The U.N. estimates the crackdown has caused more than 2,900 deaths.
