US to Impose Sanctions on Syria

06/03/2004| IslamWeb

The United States will soon impose sanctions on Syria, under a 2003 law allowing President George W. Bush to punish the country for alleged support of Islamic groups and weapons programs, a US official said. "It's coming," said a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official would not say what kind of sanctions would be imposed or when they might take effect. In November 2003, the US Congress approved economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria, which Washington accuses of supporting terrorism. Bush signed the legislation, called the "Syria Accountability Act," into law in late December. The law demands that Syria end its alleged support for terrorism, halt development of chemical and biological arms and medium and long-range missiles, and withdraw troops it has deployed in Lebanon. It provides various levels of political and economic levers that can be used against Syria, including reducing the level of diplomatic representation and restricting the movements of Syrian diplomats in the United States. Washington could also ban the sale of technology meant for civilian use but with military applications, freeze the assets of Syrians in the United States, and bar Syrian aircraft from US airspace. Bush is spending the weekend at his Texas ranch, meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox. US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on February 25 that he was disappointed with Syria's Middle East policy, and that relations between Damascus and Washington were "not as I would like them to be." He urged Damascus to learn from the lessons of Saddam Hussein's ouster and Libya's renunciation of weapons of mass destruction. The United States has accused Damascus of helping to arm the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein and of turning a blind eye to foreign fighters entering Iraq to carry out attacks on the US-led coalition. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last month again accused Syria and Iran of allowing militants to cross into Iraq. "Syria and Iran have not been helpful to the people of Iraq," Rumsfeld told journalists during a visit to Baghdad. "Indeed they have been unhelpful." "We know Syria has been a hospitable place for escaping Iraqis" following the US-led invasion of Iraq last year, he added. In response, Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said Rumsfeld "has a problem." "This question has been asked several times, we have responded to it several times. The repetition of this question shows that the person who made these accusations has a problem," the Syrian minister said. Syria has vehemently denied US charges of supporting terrorism and developing weapons, and said at the weekend that no one was infiltrating into Iraq. It also accuses Washington of double standards and not doing enough to rein in its close ally Israel, which remains in occupation of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. **PHOTO CAPTION*** US Army Captain Abdullah Ahmed Hulweh, seen here in northern Iraq, left Syria 21 years ago to embrace the American dream and the American army. (AFP/Daniel Mihailescu)