BEIRUT/BRUSSELS: Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Monday he was confident the country would emerge stronger from its crisis as the European Union announced sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and other senior officials, raising pressure on his government to end weeks of violence against protesters.
“The president is our leader, we will continue with that, and I am sure that we will emerge from this crisis stronger,” Moallem told Syrian television.

Moallem also said the European Union sanctions would backfire. “I say this measure, just as it will harm Syria’s interests, it will harm Europe’s interest. And Syria won’t remain silent about this measure.”
While Moallem said he expected more political and economic action against the Syrian government, he was confident such measures would fall short of a “military solution.”
Earlier Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels to expand restrictions against Syria by adding Assad and nine other senior members of the government to a list of those banned from travelling to the EU and subject to asset freezes.

In London, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also urged Assad to halt the violence against demonstrators seeking reforms, saying that nearly 1,000 people had been killed.
“This cruelty must end and the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people must be honored,” Clinton told a news conference with her British counterpart William Hague. “Stop the killings, the beatings, the arrests, release all political prisoners and detainees. Begin to respond to the demands that are upon you for a process of credible and inclusive democratic change.”

The demonstrators in Syria first called for greater freedoms, but hardened their demands to calling for Assad’s overthrow as the violence against them increased.
Clinton’s estimate of the number of people killed in the suppression of popular protests was above the latest figure of more than 800 civilians issued by human rights groups.

Witnesses said security forces had killed 11 people in the city of Homs Saturday during a funeral for those killed in the latest crackdown. Such reports are hard to verify because Syria has excluded most foreign media.
The EU action follows a ban on 13 of Assad’s closest allies and an arms embargo imposed earlier in answer to the crackdown.

The EU foreign ministers said in a statement they were “determined to take further measures without delay should the Syrian leadership choose not to change its current path.”
The EU’s 27 governments have argued about the effectiveness of sanctions, some questioning whether the EU can be effective in cutting off Assad’s access to finance. But they appeared to agree Monday that a rapid escalation of pressure was needed.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: “If someone represses his own people like that, responds to peaceful demonstrations with force, this can’t be left unanswered by the EU. ”The U.S. extended sanctions to Assad and six senior officials last Wednesday.
The EU ministers urged Syria to grant access to a U.N. rights mission and humanitarian groups. “The EU is deeply concerned at continuing mass arrests, intimidations and instances of torture, and calls for their immediate halt,” the statement said.

Two leading human rights groups urged the Security Council Monday to pass a resolution against Assad to help bring an end to the violence against civilians.
“The time has come to sanction Bashar Assad and those in his entourage who are responsible for the human rights violations against civilians,” said Philippe Bolopion, the United Nations director of Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International also urged the U.N. and Arab League to act in light of the latest sanctions slapped on Assad by the EU and U.S. “The U.N. Security Council must now take more determined action on Syria and follow the precedent it set when Gadhafi’s government began attacking its own people in Libya,” it said.
“Syria’s leaders must be told, and be told firmly, that they will not escape accountability and justice for the crimes that are now being committed under their authority in Syria.”