Report: Caesar Act Won't Target Lebanon, U.S. Spokesman Says
A U.S. State Department spokesman reportedly said that the Caesar Act imposed in 2019 is “not going to target Lebanon's economy or it people,” the Saudi Asharq el-Awsat reported on Thursday.
The new U.S. administration “took upon itself an important matter in implementing the (Caesar Act) law, not targeting trade lines, aid, or humanitarian activities of the Syrian people, and that the law will not target the Lebanese economy nor the Lebanese people," he said in remarks to the daily.
He assured that President Joe Biden’s administration “will not be complacent with the implementation of the Act that was imposed in 2019, during the previous US administration after it was voted on in Congress."
Assuring that Biden's administration seeks "preserving the diplomatic track in facilitating humanitarian and relief work to reach a peaceful solution in the war-torn country for 10 years."
However he assured that individuals or entities supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad will not be spared.
"Certainly (Caesar Act) targets persons or entities that support the Assad regime and impede a peaceful political solution to the conflict, as called for by Security Council Resolution 2254,” he added.
The Caesar Act, which took effect in June 2020, restricts any US reconstruction assistance and keeps up pressure on Assad, demanding accountability, even though he has won back control of most of Syria following more than nine years of bloodshed.
The sanctions could likewise have a serious knock-on effect in Lebanon, which was in many respects Damascus's lifeline and rear base during the war.
The government in Beirut set up a committee to study the possible impacts on its many trade links with Syria.
Source: Naharnet
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