By Ata Ufuk Seker</p> <p> </p> <p>BRUSSELS (AA) – The European Union on Monday added 11 businessmen and five entities to the sanction list as part of restrictive measures against Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime and its supporters.</p> <p>In a statement, the European Commission said the sanctions list now includes 270 persons and 72 entities that are targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze.
The individuals and entities were involved in luxury estate projects and other regime-backed projects, the statement said.
<p>The sanctions currently in place against the Assad regime include an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freeze of the assets of the Syrian central bank in the EU, and export restrictions on equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression.</p> <p>Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
