The European Union added Syrian Defence Minister and four others to its sanctions blacklist of individuals and businesses associated with Sunday’s clampdown

The European Union added on Tuesday Syrian Defence Minister Ali Habib Mahmud and four others to its sanctions blacklist of individuals and businesses associated with Sunday’s clampdown.

He became the third member of President Bashar Assad's cabinet to face a European Union travel ban and asset freeze, as the bloc unveiled a fresh set of sanctions.

The five new individuals targeted include two associates of the Assad family, including one of the president's uncles, and two top intelligence officials.

All are "involved in or associated with the violent repression" of anti-regime protesters, the EU's top foreign policy official, Catherine Ashton, said on Monday.
They are now banned from travelling to the EU or accessing any funds they may have stored in the bloc.

Ashton warned on Monday that more sanctions would follow "should the Syrian leadership persist in its current path."

Italy on Tuesday recalled its ambassador to Syria to protest the clampdown by authorities in Damascus. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has recalled Ambassador Achille Amerio for consultations due to "the horrible repression against the civilian population in Syria," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The message is clear and unambiguous: those responsible for the repression will be singled out and held accountable," said British Foreign Secretary William Hague as the sanctions came into effect. "In the absence of an end to the senseless violence and a genuine process of political reform, we will continue to pursue further EU sanctions," Hague added in a statement.

The UN Security Council was to hold a second day of talks on Syria on Tuesday.
  
At a first session of emergency talks on the crackdown, Western powers again demanded a condemnation of the violence, but the closed session ended with no agreement.