Current Edition About Subscribe The Jerusalem Center

Daily Alert Archive

Every Daily Alert Since 2002

Search

Search more than 90,000 news items by topic, author, or source.
Use " " to search for multiple words and phrases.

Trending Topics

August 5, 2011       Share:    

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-europe-consider-boycott-of-syrian-oil/2011/08/04/gIQAoqJ5uI_story.html

U.S., Europe Consider Boycott of Syrian Oil

(Washington Post) Mary Beth Sheridan and Alice Fordham - The U.S. and European governments have begun to discuss whether to escalate sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad by targeting Syria's oil industry, as officials on both continents are looking at stepped-up measures to pressure Assad. While the U.S. has little economic leverage on Syria, having cut off most trade years ago, the Europeans buy about half of Syria's oil. France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are the biggest customers. Syria's petroleum exports of 150,000 barrels per day account for one-third of government revenue. "If these [sanctions] are implemented, does it immediately mean the regime stops killing? No," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "But does it mean several months from now the regime runs out of money? Yes." The U.S. ambassador in Damascus, Robert Ford, said this week that previous sanctions were starting to bite. "More and more business people, especially Sunni business people - an important pillar of the regime's support - we do see them slowly but surely shifting sides."

View the full edition of Daily Alert

Back to Archive

Subscribe to Daily Alert: