U.S. Plans Syrian Sanctions

By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON — The United States is considering how heavily to sanction Syria, as called for in a law created last year that requires Syria to suffer economic penalties if it fails to end its alleged WMD activities and official support for terrorism, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2003).

In December, President George W. Bush signed into law the Syria Accountability Act, which imposes a ban on U.S. exports of military and dual-use items to Syria and requires the president to impose at least two more sanctions from a list of six specified in the law. The six additional sanctions include a ban on U.S. exports to Syria, a downgrading of U.S. diplomatic representation there and a freeze on Syrian assets. 

The sanctions cannot be lifted until four conditions stated in the law are met, including an end to Syrian development of biological and chemical weapons and medium- and long-range ballistic missiles and an end to state support for terrorist groups. The law does give Bush the authority, however, to waive both sets of sanctions for national security reasons.

During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing yesterday, Powell said the administration is considering which of the additional sanctions to impose on Syria.

“We’re examining now what sanctions of the act we want to use,” he said.

During a House International Relations Committee earlier this week, Powell said the administration would make its decision on implementing the Syria Accountability Act “in the near future.”

The Syrian Embassy in Washington has dedicated an entire page of its official Web site specifically to oppose the Syria Accountability Act, saying in a posted statement that the law damages U.S.-Syrian relations and Syria’s cooperation in the war on terrorism.

At yesterday’s Senate hearing, Powell said there are still signs that Syria continues to provide support for terrorist groups, noting that the Damascus offices of several groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah remain open.

“Syria has not done what we demanded of it with respect to the closing permanently of those offices and getting those individuals out of Damascus,” he said.

Powell also refused to address reports that Syrian aircraft sent to Iran on humanitarian missions following a massive earthquake there late last year returned carrying weapons for terrorist groups.

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