EU's Syria sanctions target Assad's wife Updated at 6:43 a.m. (CBS/AP) BRUSSELS - Officials say EU foreign ministers have slapped sanctions on the wife and other close relatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad in a continuing attempt to stop the violent crackdown on opposition. They said four members of the Assad family and eight government ministers have been targeted in the latest round of sanctions. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision will be announced later Friday following the foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels. Asma Assad, 36, was born in London and has British citizenship, and an EU official said that likely meant she could not be banned from travel to the U.K. Syria forces step up assaults, clashes rage Video: Car bombs kill 2 in Aleppo, Syria Video: Syria uprising - a year of revolution Private emails believed to be from the Assad family and inner circle which were provided to Western media by Syrian opposition members have shown that Mrs. Assad, an Englishwoman who has stood staunchly by her husband during a year of violent unrest in her adopted country, has a taste for luxury goods from abroad. The emails, obtained by The Guardian newspaper, suggest the president's wife joked about her husband being labeled a dictator and continued shopping for luxury goods even during the height of the regime's brutal crackdown on opponents. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was very important to increase pressure on the Syrian regime. "Their behavior continues to be murdering and totally unacceptable in the yes of the world," he said on his way into the meeting. The U.N. estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising began a year ago in a cycle of attack and reprisal.