US Slaps Sanctions on Syrian Security Body

Washington said on Wednesday it is setting sanctions on the Syrian Political Security Directorate for human rights abuses, citing two incidents when its agents shot down protesters in March and April.

Also named in the sanctions were the country’s air force intelligence chief, Major General Jamil Hassan, and Iran’s national police for "providing support to the Syrian regime."

Members of the Political Security Directorate, a unit of the Syrian Interior Ministry and one of the four major branches of Syria’s security forces, opened fire on and killed demonstrators in peaceful protests in Daraa in mid-March and in Nawa in April, the US Treasury said in a statement.

"In late April, protesters in Nawa, Syria, marched toward the Political Security Directorate office waving olive branches, and a tribal leader pleaded for the release of two detainees who had been taken by security forces from the hospital," it said.

"Fifteen Political Security Directorate agents opened fire on the crowd, killing at least four and wounding eight."

The new sanctions, which freeze any assets they might hold in the United States and forbid any US business dealings with them, come more than a month after Washington placed similar penalties on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six top aides over their deadly crackdown on protests.

The new sanctions included Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, the head of Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces, and Ahmad-Reza Radan, the LEF deputy chief.

The two — both already under sanctions targeted directly at Iran’s government — were cited for their aid to the Syrian government in its crackdown on protesters and anti-government activists.

"Today’s action builds on the administration’s efforts to pressure Assad and his regime to end the use of wanton violence and begin transitioning to a system that ensures the universal rights of the Syrian people," said the acting Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David Cohen.

"Also today we are exposing further Iran’s provision of its military and security forces to support the Syrian government’s ongoing violence and repression of the Syrian people."

Rights groups have said that 1,342 civilians have been killed since mid-March in a crackdown by Assad’s regime on pro-democracy protesters and that 342 security force personnel have also died.

Source: AFP