The European Union has imposed an embargo on oil imports from Syria, tightening noose on President Bashar al Assad regime in retaliation to its continuing violent crackdown on anti-government protestors. In a statement in Brussels, the European Council said a ban on the import of Syrian oil into the 27-nation bloc was imposed in view of the gravity of the situation in that country and was applied to the purchase, import and transport of oil and other petroleum products. Meanwhile, the Syrian forces killed 14 people on Friday as protestors piled pressure on the regime to quit.