Middle East Newsline -

Sections

Home Page
Headlines
ME Diary
Business News
Strategic Profiles
ME Defense
One on One
Special Report
Currency Converter
Sample Report
Survey

Contact MENL

About Us
Email
Feedback Form
Phone/Fax
Snail Mail
Advertise
Subscribe
Disclaimer/Privacy
Copyright

BUSH DECIDES ON TOKEN SANCTIONS ON SYRIA

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The Bush administration has decided to impose what has been described as token sanctions on Syria.

Congressional sources said the administration plans to waive most of the penalties cited in the Syrian Accountability Act, signed into law by President George Bush in December 2003. The sources said Bush plans to waive such sanctions as a virtual trade embargo as well as restrictions on the movement of Syrian diplomats.

"This was clearly expected," a senior congressional staffer involved in the legislation said. "The president signed the law but made it clear that he didn't want a blow-up with Syria."

The Bush administration was expected to announce sanctions by the end of March, after next week's Arab League summit in Tunis, the sources said. They said the State Department has discussed the expected sanctions with Damascus and earlier this week a five-member U.S. Senate delegation reviewed U.S.-Syrian relations with President Bashar Assad.

NOTE: The above is not the full item.

This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at:
editor@menewsline.com for further details.

Middle East

Arabic Edition