On Tuesday, the US State Department imposed a new pack of sanctions against “Assad’s corrupt financiers, officials, and affiliated businesses,” according to a statement released.
The statement said that the United States is announcing that 17 further Syrian elements have been designated for sanctions, as part of the Administration’s continuing campaign to achieve the goals of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 and, “hold Assad and his enablers accountable for their crimes, including the killings at Armanaz and in countless other Syrian communities.”
“Along with the 14 designations announced by the Department of the Treasury targeting Assad’s corrupt financiers, officials, and affiliated businesses,” the statement continued, “the Department of State is issuing three designations against the Fifth Corps of the Syrian Arab Army and Bashar al-Assad’s personal illicit business network. Specifically, we are designating Fifth Corps commander Milad Jedid…for his involvement in the obstruction, disruption, or prevention of a ceasefire in Syria.”
The US also designated Nasreen Ibrahim and Rana Ibrahim, the adult sisters of Assad financier Yasser Ibrahim, because the Ibrahim family “acts as a front for Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma al-Akhras”.
“While millions of Syrians face hunger,” the statement said, “the Ibrahims are on a spending spree to expand Assad’s and Akhras’s personal stranglehold on the Syrian economy.”
The statement warned that the Administration’s designations of, “Syrian officials, military commanders, and corrupt business leaders will not cease until the Assad regime and its enablers take irreversible steps to end their campaign of violence against the Syrian people and genuinely implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.”
Three years ago yesterday, on Sept. 29, 2017, Assad regime forces, backed by Russia, killed at least 34 Syrians in the town of Armanaz. Since then, thousands of Assad’s bombs have been dropped on schools, hospitals, and markets across Syria. Too many lives have been lost in Assad’s futile search for a military conquest over his own people.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
