CAIRO: The United States announced new sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad along with six senior officials on Wednesday. The White House announced the sanctions on the Syrian regime after two months of deadly attacks against pro-democracy demonstrators and human rights abuses. This marks the first time that President Assad has been personally targeted by American sanctions, causing many to believe this may be a step towards the West seeking to remove Assad from power. The sanctions came one day before U.S. President Barack Obama was set to give an important speech on the pro-democracy uprisings sweeping across many Arab countries which have left thousands dead and several leaders in exile or prison. The U.S. sanctions on Syria freeze assets held by Assad in the United States and its jurisdictions and also bans U.S. citizens from doing business with the Syrian regime. The U.S. Treasury Department also took steps to freeze the finances of the Assad family, targeting three businesses controlled by the Syrian leader's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, assumed to be Syria's wealthiest man. The U.S. Treasury also targeted the chief of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Qassem Soleimani, because of his alleged role in supporting Assad's bloody crackdown against Syrian civilians. The sanctions also name Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara, Prime Minister Adel Safar, Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, Defense Minister Ali Habib along with Abdul Fatah Qudsiya, the director of Syrian military intelligence, and Mohammed Dib Zaitoun, chief of the political security directorate. Syria's president has made recent statements acknowledging mistakes made by the country's security forces and blaming police officers for much of the brutal response to protests. Syria's Al-Watan Newspaper, often sympathetic to the regime, quoted Bashar Assad as saying on Wednesday, “Wrong security practices that have occurred were a result of lack of awareness by the security forces on how to handle circumstances like these.” Al-Watan published a report also on Wednesday saying that President Assad met with a Damascus delegation and promised new training to police officers so they can “do the right thing” in regards to responding to protests. Al-Watan Newspaper is owned by Assad's cousin, Rami Makhlouf, who was named in the U.S. sanctions. Human Rights Watch estimates the number of Syrians killed since the start of the uprising at between 500 and 900. Assad's government has blocked most human rights groups, foreign journalists and news organizations from working inside the country. A day before the sanctions were imposed, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton said she was increasingly alarmed by developments in Syria and called out Assad on breaking his pledge to institute reforms and failing to follow through with earlier promises to stop the crackdown. “They have embraced the worst tactics of their Iranian ally, and they have refused to honor the legitimate aspirations of their own people in Syria,” Clinton said. “President Assad talks about reform, but his heavy-handed, brutal crackdown shows his true intentions.” The United States was not able to provide an estimate on the value of Syrian assets involved in the sanctions, but leading Syrian opposition and human rights activist, Haitham al-Maleh, said that “members of the regime are now under siege.” Switzerland announced also on Wednesday that it would impose a travel ban on 13 top Syrian officials and freeze their assets held in Swiss banks. The European Union made a similar decision last week. The E.U. has stopped short of placing sanctions on Bashar Assad himself, but a report out of Brussels late Wednesday evening said the E.U. is expected to extend sanctions next week to include Assad. Switzerland is expected to follow the same path with their asset freeze and travel ban including Syria's President Assad. A European Union diplomat, speaking under conditions of anonymity, said Wednesday “What I detect from members states…is that there is a clear majority, if not now a consensus, for putting him [Assad] on the list.” In Kuwait, a total of 24 MPs have demanded the expulsion of Syria's ambassador to that country and call for the end of diplomatic ties with the Syrian government. They accused the Syrian government of committing atrocious acts against the people, including women and children. They also said that around 9,000 people being detained have fates which are unknown and that the Syrian government has prevented humanitarian aid to enter Daraa and Homs, leading many to die in their homes. The motions made by lawmakers in Kuwait are not binding on the government and the parliament has ignored political petitions against Syria in the past. Kuwait is one of a handful of Arab countries which have publicly called for the halt of diplomacy with Damascus since Assad's brutal response to the uprising began.
