The United States yesterday urged Americans to leave Syria immediately while it is still possible to travel commercially.

“The US Department of State urges US citizens in Syria to depart immediately while commercial transportation is available,” the State Department said in an updated travel warning.

Meanwhile members of the European Parliament yesterday called for the immediate departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who, by choosing repression instead of reforms, they said had lost all legitimacy.

In a resolution adopted in Strasbourg, the Parliament called on Mr Assad and his regime to “relinquish power immediately”.

“The Syrian regime is calling its legitimacy into question by choosing a path of repression instead of fulfilling its own promises on broad reforms,” the resolution said. Members condemned the use of force against protesters and the persecution of activists and journalists while calling for “an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings, arrests, arbitrary detention and alleged forced disappearances and instances of torture by the Syrian security forces.”

The EU has along with the United States been calling for Mr Assad to go since mid-August.

The resolution comes as member countries move to adopt a raft of economic sanctions against the Syrian regime which could include, in addition to a ban on oil investments, a ban on funding the Syrian central bank with notes printed in Europe.

Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Secretary of State for European affairs and economic policy, said on Wednesday that Mr Assad has lost all credibility due to his broken promises and the use of force against his people.

The UN estimates the Syrian government crackdown on protests has killed 2,600, mostly civilians, since March, while rights groups say thousands of people have been arrested in the crackdown.