(Washington Post) The Bush administration is in the final stages of deciding on new punitive measures to take against Syria, but is trying to limit any damage to intelligence cooperation from Damascus or to U.S. business deals on oil and communications, officials said Thursday. The main new sanctions will be economic, such as banning U.S. exports to Syria except for humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. Washington may also block financial transactions by Damascus. The White House has notified Congress that it will make a decision no later than next week. "You'll see the implementation very shortly, and I think it will be a very firm implementation of the Syrian Accountability Act and the intent behind it," Assistant Secretary of State William Burns said in congressional testimony Wednesday. "If Syria chooses to...ignore the positions that we and others have taken, then there's not much prospect for our relationship," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday.
2004-03-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive