Syrian oil tanker in Suez canal

A tanker carrying Syrian oil has been allowed to pass through Egypt's Suez Canal "after paying the required fees," an Egyptian official says. The 81,000-ton M.T. Tour, owned by ISIM Tour Ltd, was taking Syrian oil to Singapore, the canal official said on Tuesday. Reuters reported on Friday that the ship was carrying a cargo of 120,000 tons of Syrian crude to a state-run Chinese company. West and its Arab allies have been pushing for anti-Syria sanctions, including an oil embargo, to force President Bashar al-Assad out of power in favor of a group of Western-led and Israeli-friendly opposition figures. Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 during which many people, including security forces, have been killed and injured. The West and the Syrian opposition have repeatedly accused the government of killing the protesters. Damascus, however, persistently insists that the unrest was initiated and fueled by Western-led foreign elements, describing them as ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups."