U.S. Treasury Bans Telecom Sales to Syria
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday moved to block the sale of telecommunications equipment to Syria, the latest in a series of sanctions aimed at isolating Bashar al-Assad's regime.
According to a Treasury document signed on Monday, U.S. firms will now be barred from selling the Syrian government, or anyone in the country, telecoms equipment or technology, "including satellite or terrestrial network connectivity."
Washington has slapped sanctions on a series of top Syrian government officials amid a deadly crackdown on protestors across the country.
On August 17 President Barack Obama signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against the Syrian regime because of what the White House termed a "continuing escalation of violence against the people of Syria."
The sanctions froze all Syrian government property in the United States and banned U.S. citizens from doing new business with the country, or importing petroleum products.
Speaking in Tel Aviv on Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said it was "a matter of time" before the Syrian regime headed al-Assad is ousted from power by the uprising.
According to the United Nations, the crackdown has killed at least 2,700 people.
Throughout the crackdown, Syrian state-backed television channels have broadcast pro-government accounts of events in the country.
Syrian news networks have also been used to broadcast messages from Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and the remnants of his regime.
The order was signed by Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Source: Agence France Presse
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