LOC10:17
07:17 GMT
WASHINGTON, May 17 (KUNA) -- The United States designated Thursday four
senior Syrian officials, two entities and al-Nusrah Front leader sanctioning
them for backing regime of Bashar Al-Assad in suppressing people or
involvement in terrorism.
The Treasury Department designated four senior officials of the Syrian
government; Minister of Defense Fahd Jassem al-Freij, Minister of Health Sa'ad
Abdel-Salam al-Nayef, Minister of Industry Adnan Abdo Al-Sukhni and Minister
of Justice Najm Hamad al-Ahmad, pursuant to E.O. 13573, which targets the
Syrian regime's "continuing escalation of violence against the Syrian people."
The Treasury also designated the Syrian government-owned Syrian Arab
Airlines "responsible for transporting weaponry to the Assad regime" and
Al-Dunya Television, a privately owned 24-hour, satellite channel that began
transmission in March 2007 for "providing services to the Syrian government,
including the despicable practice of airing forced confessions."
In this regard, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
David Cohen said in a statement that the Treasury "will continue to use all of
the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt the financial networks of
those responsible for the Syrian government's egregious campaign to suppress
its people."
"We are determined to target activity contributing to the abhorrent
humanitarian situation in Syria, whether by overseeing the Assad government's
indiscriminate killing of civilians, shipping weapons to the Syrian
government, abusing positions of trust to supply intelligence to the regime,
or disseminating the regime's propaganda," he stressed.
Furthermore, the Department of State has designated al-Nusrah Front leader
Muhammad al-Jawlani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. It said in a
statement that al-Jawlani "has stated in videos that his ultimate goal is the
overthrow of the Syrian regime and the institution of Islamist Shari'a law
throughout the country," and he has been "specifically tasked by al-Qaeda in
Iraq (AQI) to carry out these objectives."
"Under al-Jawlani's leadership, al-Nusrah Front has carried out multiple
suicide attacks throughout Syria," in which "many of these attacks have killed
innocent Syrian civilians," it said, adding that "recently al-Jawlani publicly
pledged allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's leader."
To date, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on the Government of Syria,
including its Central Bank and oil companies, and more than 100 individuals
and entities under a "number of our authorities." (end)
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