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Bush Likely to Slap Investment Sanctions on Syria Current rating: 0

by MARK DAMELI

(No verified email address) 17 Mar 2004

The Bush administration is expected to curb future investments by U.S. energy companies in Syria but allow existing projects to continue under a wave of new sanctions over alleged support by Damascus for groups on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations,Syria founded and sponsored several terrorist groups in self-occupied Lebanon and in Syria. Syrian sponsored groups carried several suicide attacks against Americans, West-Europeans and Lebanese since 1980’s killing hundreds. The Syrian regime has founded and sponsored terrorists that mastered hostage-taking and hijacking against American and West-European nationals and civil airplanes. Eleven terrorist groups listed in the US State Department use the Syrian capital as a headquarter.http://www.2la.org/lebanon/ee/terroram.htm ,congressional sources said on Wednesday

Administration officials say no final decisions have been made but that an announcement is expected within days after a series of high-level meetings at the White House on Tuesday and Wednesday. ``Our continued disapproval of Syria is well known,'' an administration official said. Washington accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorism, occupying Lebanon and failing to secure its border with Iraq while allowing anti-American fighters to cross into the country.

Congressional sources briefed by the administration said the White House was expected to clamp down on new licenses to prohibit American energy companies from making future investments without disrupting existing projects. ``They're going to target the Syrian oil'' sector, said one congressional aide.

But the administration is considering other sanctions as well, from prohibiting Syrian aircraft from the United States to blocking transactions in any property in which the Syrian government has any interest. Administration and congressional sources said President Bush does not plan to impose diplomatic sanctions authorized under legislation he signed into law in December to crack down on Damascus. ``This is the beginning.

The White House wants to see how (Syrian President Bashar) al-Assad reacts,'' a congressional aide said. But with trade between the two countries a modest $300 million or less annually, the new sanctions would have more political than economic effects. Last month ConocoPhillips, the No. 3 U.S. oil company, announced that it would end its operations in Syria. CONTRAST WITH LIBYA The administration's new penalties against Syria will stand in stark contrast to its decision to ease sanctions on Libya as a reward for scrapping its nuclear arms programs. Bush has seized on Libya's pledge to abandon weapons programs as an example for other countries, including Syria. The Syria Accountability Act bars trade in items that could be used in weapons programs until the administration certifies Syria is not supporting terrorist groups, has withdrawn personnel from Lebanon, is not developing unconventional weapons and has secured its border with Iraq. The law also authorizes Bush to impose at least two other sanctions from a menu that includes barring U.S. businesses from investing in Syria, restricting travel in the United States by Syrian diplomats, and banning exports to Syria of U.S. products other than food and medicine.

The legislation allowed Bush to waive the sanctions, but officials said he decided to act now to step up the pressure on Damascus. ``We're moving forward on the implementation of the Syrian Accountability Act,http://2la.org/syria/index.php and I think we'll have something more to say soon,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said earlier this week. ``The administration wants to take a pretty hard line,'' another administration official said. Syria says its support for the Palestinian and Lebanese groups it calls freedom fighters is merely political and their only activity in Syria is speaking to media. Allegations from Washington during the Iraq war that Damascus was helping aides of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein flee raised concern in the Arab world that Syria could be the next target of what the U.S. calls its ``war on terror.'' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld complained last month that Syria was not doing enough to stop guerrillas entering Iraq.