|
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on 29 Syrian Officials
[An Nahar] The United States moved to freeze the assets of dozens of Syrian ministers Wednesday, piling pressure on the regime as it reeled from a kaboom that took out three core security officials.The White House insisted  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad The Scourge of Hama... was "losing control" of power, as Washington marshaled its forces to push the regime toward its tipping point. The Treasury Department announced assets freezes and bans on links with 29 members of the regime's upper echelon, including the ministers of finance, economy and justice, and the governor of the central bank. While the U.S. had already introduced sanctions against 100 members of the regime, the move represented a significant stepping up of pressure on Assad's inner circle. Until now those not directly involved in the violence had largely dodged sanctions, as Washington tried to encourage defections or even an internal revolt. Among the other ministers included in Wednesday's actions were those responsible for agriculture, housing, health, education, environment, culture and oil. Many were appointed less than a month ago when Assad announced a new cabinet in the wake of controversial parliamentary elections that were boycotted by the opposition. Posted by: Fred 2012-07-19 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=348685 |