US sanctions Syria’s central bank chief, intel head
The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen Syrian officials and entities in its latest push to choke off the regime's financial network.
The United States today imposed a new round of sanctions on Syrian officials, including the governor of the Central Bank of Syria, in the Trump administration's latest push to squeeze President Bashar al-Assad of his financial backers.
“The United States will continue to employ all of its tools and authorities to target the finances of anyone who profits from or facilitates the Assad regime’s abuse of the Syrian people,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement today.
Prominent Syrian businessman Khodr Taher bin Ali was among the “key enablers” named in the latest round of sanctions. The Treasury Department said bin Ali acts as an intermediary and contractor for the 4th Division, an elite military unit in the Syrian Arab Army, and has run a number of companies used to launder money on behalf of the regime.
The Treasury imposed sanctions on Husam Muhammad Louka, the head of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate, accusing him of torturing of detainees in the Syrian city of Homs and involvement in a massacre that killed 19 people at a children’s playground in 2015.
