EU embargo on Syrian oil set for Tuesday: diplomats

(BRUSSELS) - EU governments have "as good as" wrapped up a key deal to ban imports of Syria's crude oil, diplomats said Sunday, as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad readied a major TV address.

New legislation drafted over the weekend includes "restrictive measures in the area of oil, notably an embargo on the import of Syrian crude oil," according to an agreement reached by European Union ambassadors.

"It's not a done deal yet, but it's as good as," a well-placed EU source told AFP. "The 27 states tasked the EU with preparing the ban, and on Tuesday we will put the formal legislation on the table," he said.

The legislation adds a new category of people or businesses that can be sanctioned -- those who "benefit from" Assad's regime.

Previously sanctions only covered those who "support" a government accused of orchestrating a military crackdown that has already left more than 2,000 people dead, activists say.

In London, the Foreign Office website quoted its minister Alistair Burt as telling BBC radio that Britain preferred sanctions "targeted on those who support the regime," but that London had "agreed to consider" the legal changes enabling the embargo.

The British government was "prevaricating a little," said another diplomat who cited pressure by two Europe-based oil-producer giants, but EU partners could expect a final green light allowing the embargo to be put "in place within days."

If confirmed, the EU oil embargo will become the hardest-hitting sanction the West has yet applied to Damascus.

It comes as a UN humanitarian team is assessing crisis needs on the ground and Assad is finalising his end-of-Ramadan evening speech to mark his first TV appearance in two months of bloody protests.

While Syria is only responsible for about 0.5 percent of global crude oil production, around 90 percent of production running at 385,000 barrels per day was exported to the EU in 2010.

Data from the Brussels EU executive shows that nearly eight million tonnes went to just six EU states -- Denmark, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Austria and Spain, in that order.

US President Barack Obama and the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Spain on Thursday called publicly for Assad to quit power, a demand dismissed by Russia and Turkey.

At least 36 anti-regime protesters have been killed by security forces since weekly Muslim prayers on Friday, activists say.