The United States on Thursday blacklisted senior Syrian government officials and leaders of several Syrian military units as Washington continued the Trump administration pressure campaign to compel the Bashar Al-Assad regime to end its attacks against the Syrian people. In a statement, the US Treasury Department said that its Office of Foreign Assets Control took action against the Syrian presidential office and the Syrian Ba'ath Party through its designations of two senior members of the Syrian government: Luna Al-Shibl, Assad's top press officer and Mohamad Ammar Saati bin Mohamad Nawzad, a prominent member of the Syrian Ba'ath Party. Al Shibl is a prominent member of Assad's inner circle. A former television news anchor, she is an adviser to Assad, his press officer, and one of the most senior press officials in the Syrian government while Saati is a longtime leader within the Syrian Ba'ath Party, a former Syrian parliamentarian, and the husband of Al Shibl. Saati has served in high-ranking positions in both the Regional Command and Central Committee of the Syrian Ba'ath Party, which contain some of the highest-ranking members of the Assad regime and are instrumental in shaping the Syrian Government's brutal policies. Commenting on the move, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said: "These Syrian government officials actively contribute to the oppression of the Assad regime." "The United States will continue to impose costs on those facilitating the Assad regime's ongoing war against its own people." The US State Department on Thursday also imposed sanctions on the leadership of several Syrian military units, including National Defense Forces commander Fadi Saqr, over their efforts to prevent a ceasefire, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. "The United States and its allies are united in continuing to apply pressure on Assad and his enablers until there is peaceful, political solution to the conflict. Assad and his foreign patrons know the clock is ticking for action," Pompeo said. The US secretary of state added: "The United States will continue to impose costs on anyone, anywhere who obstructs a peaceful political solution to the Syrian conflict." — Agencies
