Informed sources said that Boris Ruge, director of the Middle and Near East Department at the German Foreign Ministry, came from Washington, yet the sources added that he did not carry an American message to be delivered to Syrian authorities, since the american Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford is still at the helm of the embassy in Damascus.

Rute had met with Syrian Foreign Minister Waled al-Muallim this week as well as members of Syria's local opposition.

The sources told DPA that Ruge also met with Ford in Damascus along with the German Ambassador to Syria Andreas Reinicke where the latest developments in the Syrian situation were discussed.

In the same context, Western sources have talked of the probability of new sanctions being imposed on Syrian figures, some of which work in the oil sector. Sanctions may reach oil companies Total and Shell if they continue their work in the sector in Syria.

The sources clarified that both Total and Shell contribute to the Syrian treasury with the sum of $8 million, according to preliminary estimations.