* Brahimi calls for Eid ceasefire * Historic Aleppo mosque burnt in fighting LUXEMBOURG/BEIRUT — European Union foreign ministers imposed fresh sanctions against President Bashar Al-Assad's regime Monday but failed to iron out differences with Russia over how to end the deadly conflict. As violence intensified in Syria and a landmark mosque in Aleppo burnt during fighting, ministers agreed an assets freeze and travel ban against 28 Syrians and two firms, the bloc's 19th round of restrictive measures against the Assad regime since the start of the conflict in March last year. But diplomats said the sanctions target people linked to violence against protesters, or firms accused of supplying equipment used by the regime to repress a protest movement now entering its 20th month. Assad so far has shown no sign of buckling under EU sanctions while Moscow maintains its support, despite EU embargoes on imports and investment in oil, as well as a ban on trade in gold and precious metals. The latest sanctions bring to 181 the number of people and to 54 the number of companies on an EU blacklist, many of them members of Assad's inner circle. With tensions between Turkey and Syria raising fears of a spillover, the conflict in Syria and how to end it was at the center of closed door talks in Luxembourg Sunday between the 27 EU ministers and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. But the discussion was tense and made little to no headway, said ministers and diplomats. “We discussed Syria really in all its dimensions with Mr. Lavrov last night,” said British Foreign Secretary William Hague. “I can't say that we made any progress.” Meanwhile, UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi called for a ceasefire in Syria during the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha. Brahimi made his call as he shuttled between Syria's neighbors, which have been bitterly divided by the conflict. The envoy was in Iraq Monday after holding talks in Iran, closest ally of Al-Assad regime. Inside Syria, at least 16 soldiers were killed in fighting around two checkpoints near the commercial capital of Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Aleppo has been the theater of intense conflict for the past three months, including in the city's UNESCO-listed historic heart, with damage to both the ancient covered market, or souk, and the landmark 13th Century Umayyad Mosque. Assad ordered the formation of a panel to oversee the mosque's restoration, the state news agency said. A day after troops recaptured the complex in heavy fighting with rebels, spent cartridges and broken glass still littered the ground. Fire had destroyed some of the antique carpets and wooden furnishings that used to adorn the place of worship and charred one of its intricately sculpted colonnades. Activist Mohammad Al-Hassan said the army had been using the mosque as a base because of its strategic location in the center of the old city of Aleppo. “It's all blackened now,” he said of the mosque, speaking by phone from Aleppo. The mosque, known in Syria as the Jami Al-Kabir, or the Great Mosque, is one of the oldest and largest in the country.— Agencies
