...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
offered fresh aid Monday to Syria's opposition, easing an EU oil embargo in favour of the rebels fighting
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad,
Despoiler of Deraa...
but stopping short of supplying offensive weapons.
Good idea. They can use the money to buy guns and ammunition from the Russers.
In a new signal of support, EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg formally adopted measures enabling EU companies on a case-by-case basis to import Syrian crude and export oil production technology and investment cash to areas in the hands of the opposition.
"We want regions controlled by the opposition to develop, we want to help economic reconstruction," said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on arriving for the talks.
"People will see there is a real alternative to the Assad regime exists."
This first easing in two years of harsh sanctions against Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
aims to help tilt the balance in the conflict but is a response to complaints by the civilian population that international sanctions are harming ordinary Syrians more than they are the regime, EU sources said.