US President Barack Obama on Thursday slapped new sanctions on Syria in an executive order that freezes all Syrian government assets and forbids investment and exports to the country. The move came as the United States moved to tighten pressure on Damascus, calling for the first time for President Bashar al-Assad to step down over his military assault on a five-month-old revolt inspired by the Arab Spring. The executive order prohibits all US investment in the country, exports to Syria, and imports of oil and gas. It also extended beyond US citizens and firms to foreign companies.
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad told UN chief Ban Ki-moon that military operations against protest towns have “stopped,” a UN spokesman said amid new reports of killings and mass arrests. Ban spoke to Assad by telephone Wednesday on the eve of a UN Security Council meeting on Syria when, diplomats said, the UN human rights chief is expected to call for the international war crimes court to investigate Assad’s deadly crackdown. Ban, one of the few international leaders to have got through to Assad in recent weeks, “expressed alarm at the latest reports of continued widespread violations of human rights and excessive use of force by Syrian security forces against civilians across Syria,” deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said.
US freezes Syrian assets in new sanctions
