Washington DC Live Blog

"These efforts will also help develop trial-ready dossiers against individuals responsible for violations of international or domestic criminal law," the department said in a statement. 

Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said the situation has certainly raised concerns for US officials.

“One thing the officials will be looking at is whether this is a critical blow to the overall peace process about working a reconciliation deal," she said.

"Is this just political posturing on the part of the Taliban, or whether there are deeper problems in the initial stages of confidence building.”

[Photo: Reuters]

US President Barack Obama says the prospect of international military intervention in Syria is premature and could lead to a civil war. 

Speaking at a White House news conference, Obama says military intervention could lead to more deaths in Syria. The UN estimates that more than 7,500 people have been killed in a year-long struggle between Bashar al-Assad's government and opposition forces.

Obama says he and British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed possible "immediate steps" their countries could take in order to make sure humanitarian aid is being provided to the Syrian people.

Cameron is in Washington for an official visit.

Read our latest news story here: Syria detainees face 'systematic torture'

For more of Al Jazeera's special coverage visit our spotlight page: Syria - The War Within 

A US House of Representatives committee has voted to impose new sanctions on Syria's energy sector and called for referring its president, Bashar al-Assad, to a war crimes tribunal.

The legislation would help bring about Assad's downfall by "tightening the financial noose around Assad's neck - already tied very tight by the Obama Administration," said Representative Howard Berman, a Democrat who co-sponsored it.

The bill must pass the entire House and Senate before President Barack Obama would decide whether to sign it into law. The outlook for passage in the House is good, considering it has bipartisan support; the chief House sponsors are House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Democrat Eliot Engel. In the Senate, similar measures have been proposed by a Democrat, Kirsten Gillibrand.

Concerns about impact on energy prices could slow the measure down, as has happened before with similar sanctions legislation aimed at Iran. If sanctions crimped Syrian oil sales, that could further tighten world oil supplies, boosting oil prices.

The Obama administration has already ordered a variety of sanctions on Syria, adding to the pressure on Assad and his government to end a nearly year-long crackdown on protesters.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to impose sanctions on anyone who invests more than $5 million in developing Syria's oil and gas resources, or who spends at least $1 million assisting Syria's refineries.

It would also sanction those who sell or provide to Syria refined petroleum products worth more than $1 million.

The sanctions, including bans on U.S. loans and export licenses and dealings with US financial institutions, would apply to foreign entities as well as the United States.

US citizens have already been prohibited from some transactions with Syria's energy sector. 

[Reuters]