US imposes sanctions on businessman close to Assad

WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday stepped up the pressure on Syria over its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, imposing sanctions on a businessman close to President Bashar al-Assad and his family.

The move freezes the US assets of Muhammad Hamsho and his company, Hamsho International Group, and prohibits US entities from engaging in any business dealings with them, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The government said Hamsho was "one of Syria's top businessmen" with interests in multiple sectors and a "close business associate" of Assad's brother Mahir, serving as a "frontman" for him and a number of his businesses.

"Muhammad Hamsho earned his fortune through his connections to regime insiders," said the US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, David Cohen.

"During the current unrest, he has cast his lot with Bashar al-Assad, Mahir al-Assad and others responsible for the Syrian government's violence and intimidation against the Syrian people," Cohen added.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order in May, imposing targeted sanctions on Assad and several high-ranking Syrian government officials for their bloody crackdown on the country's pro-democracy demonstrators.

Also Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney warned that Assad had put Syria and the Middle East on a "very dangerous path."

The UN Security Council on Wednesday issued a statement condemning "the widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities."

Witnesses and activists said Syrian security forces killed at least 37 people on Wednesday, 30 of them as tanks shelled the flashpoint protest hub of Hama.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011