WASHINGTON (AFP)
President George W. Bush said Wednesday he was extending U.S. sanctions against Syria following Washington's charge that Damascus had been building a nuclear reactor with North Korea's help.
Bush announced his decision to continue for one year a freeze on Syrian assets and the ban on the export of certain goods to Syria in an executive order and a message to the U.S. Congress.
"I took these actions to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the actions of the Government of Syria," Bush said in the order.
He accused Syria of "supporting terrorism ... pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs including the recent revelation of illicit nuclear cooperation with North Korea."
The U.S. president also said Syria was "undermining U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq."
Bush initially slapped sanctions on Syria in May 2004, then extended them in April 2006 and widened them in February to target officials engaged in "public corruption," amid charges Damascus was destabilizing Iraq and Lebanon.
Last month, U.S. national security officials presented intelligence they said showed Syria had been building a secret nuclear reactor for military ends.
They told Congress the plant was being built with the help of North Korea, until its destruction by Israel in an air raid on September 6.
The International Atomic Energy Agency launched an investigation into the U.S. accusations but also chided both Israel and the United States for their handling of the affair.
Syria denied the U.S. allegations, promised full cooperation with the UN watchdog, and accused the United States of a "campaign of lies" akin to U.S. charges that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction program. |
