US steps up sanctions on Syria over Lebanese crisis

 

The United States stepped up sanctions on Syria Thursday, blaming it for fomenting a political crisis in Lebanon and for hindering the prospects of an Arab summit to be hosted by Damascus.
 
The US Treasury announced it was freezing the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad”s cousin as part of widening sanctions against Damascus targeting officials engaged in “public corruption.”

 

Accusing Rami Makhluf, a powerful Syrian businessman, of “improperly” benefiting from corruption of the Syrian regime, the Treasury said assets he held under US jurisdiction would be frozen.

 

US persons were also prohibited from dealing with him, it said.

 

President George W. Bush had issued an executive order on February 13 to take additional measures to address US security, foreign policy and economic concerns posed by the Syrian government.

 

Syrian corruption undercut peace and stability in Iraq and the Palestinian territories and undermined the sovereignty of neighboring Lebanon, the Treasury Department said.

 

Lebanon has been gripped by a power struggle between the Western-backed majority and the opposition, supported by Syria and Iran, since pro-Damascus president Emile Lahoud stepped down on November 23.

 

Syria and Iran deny US accusations of meddling in Lebanon”s affairs, insisting that it is Washington and its allies Paris and Riyadh that are blocking a resolution of the deadlock.

 

Efforts to convene a session of the Lebanese parliament to elect a new head of state have been postponed 14 times.

 

The US sanctions are “designed to increase the pressure on Damascus to take more responsible positions,” said David Welch, the State Department”s pointman for Middle East affairs.

 

“We do this because we are convinced that unless there is clear understanding from everyone in Syria and outside it that there is a cost to these actions, then they may be tempted to continue to pursue them,” he told reporters.

 

He said that if the Syrian government were serious in ending the political deadlock in Lebanon, it “would be much more directive and forceful to some of its friends inside of Lebanon about what their obligations and responsibilities are.”

 

Syria has not backed an Arab initiative to elect army chief General Michel Sleiman as a “consensus president” in Lebanon, followed by the formation of a national unity government in which no single party has veto power, and a new electoral law.

 

Welch said the Lebanese crisis could also put a Arab Summit to be hosted by Syria on March 29-30 in jeopardy.

Asked whether Washington would ask its Arab allies to boycott the meeting, he said, “I don”t see how there can be a successful summit under these circumstances that prevail now in Lebanon.

 

“If it”s hosted by Damascus and when there is no solution to the political crisis in Lebanon and many Lebanese blame it on Syria, Syria has a very heavy and important responsibility in this situation,” he said.

 

Washington also blamed the 2005 assassination of Lebanon”s former premier Rafiq Hariri on Syria, which has repeatedly denied the charge.