5/18/2011US imposes sanctions on Syrian Pres., several officials
Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama signed here Wednesday an Executive Order (E.O.) imposing sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other senior officials as well as entities in an effort "to increase pressure on the Government of Syria to end its use of violence against its people and begin transitioning to a democratic system that protects the rights of the Syrian people."
The Department of the Treasury also announced today the designation of 10 individuals and entities pursuant to E.O. 13572, which was signed by Obama on April 29, targeting Syrian officials and others "responsible for human rights abuses, including repression against the Syrian people, as well as a set of companies tied to Syrian corruption."
The Treasury said in a statement that the U.S. "continues to strongly condemn the Syrian government's use of violence and intimidation against its people and urges President al-Assad and his regime to answer the calls of the Syrian people for a more representative government and embark upon the path of meaningful democratic reform."
In this regard, Acting Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen said in a statement that the actions the Administration has taken today "send an unequivocal message to President Assad, the Syrian leadership, and regime insiders that they will be held accountable for the ongoing violence and repression in Syria."
He stressed that "President al-Assad and his regime must immediately end the use of violence, answer the calls of the Syrian people for a more representative government, and embark upon the path of meaningful democratic reform."
In signing this Executive Order, Obama has provided the U.S. with additional tools to pressure senior Syrian government officials and has imposed sanctions on the following individuals listed in the Annex to the Order, which include Bashar al-Assad; Farouk al-Shara, Syria's Vice President; Adel Safar, Syrian Prime Minister; Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, Minister of the Interior; Ali Habib Mahmoud, Minister of Defense ; Abdul Fatah Qudsiya, Head of Syrian Military Intelligence and Mohammed Dib Zaitoun, Director of Political Security Directorate.
The Treasury indicated that "as a result of this action, any property in the U.S. or in the possession or control of U.S. persons in which the individuals listed in the Annex have an interest is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them." Obama has authorized the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, "to take actions to block the property and interests in property of senior Syrian Government officials; agencies and instrumentalities of the Syrian government, persons owned or controlled by the Syrian Government, or by officials of the Syrian Government; persons that have provided material support to those blocked pursuant to this Order; and, those that are owned or controlled by, or that have acted for or on behalf of persons pursuant to in this Order."
Also the Treasury designated today several individuals and entities pursuant to E.O. 1357, in addition to three companies and one corporate official "for ties to public corruption in Syria."
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