EU imposes sanctions on Assad's wife as Annan seeks peace deal
Source: Agencies |
March 24, 2012, Saturday
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EUROPEAN Union foreign ministers imposed sanctions yesterday on Asma Assad, the stylish, British-born wife of the Syrian president, banning her from traveling to EU countries and freezing any assets she may have there.
The foreign ministers also imposed the same sanctions on President Bashar Assad's mother, sister and sister-in-law, and eight government ministers, in a continuing attempt to stop the bloody crackdown on opposition in the country.
In addition, the assets of two Syrian companies have been frozen, an EU official said. Bashar Assad himself has been the subject of EU sanctions since May.
Also yesterday the United Nations announced that the joint UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, would travel to Russia and China for more talks aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis. The UN estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since an uprising began in Syria a year ago.
The EU has imposed 12 previous rounds of sanctions against the Syrian government, yet the crackdown has only intensified. But French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said he believed what he described as the three pillars of the regime were getting weaker.
"The army is crumbling. The second pillar, the economy, is unstable. The third is terror," Valero said in Paris.
Asma Assad, 36, was born in London, spent much of her life there, and has British citizenship. She has been seen as the softer face of the ruling family - an attractive and refined woman dubbed "chic" by France's Elle magazine and "sexy" by The Sun, Britain's top-selling tabloid.
Vogue magazine praised her for her charity work, calling her "Rose of the Desert."
Asma Assad, who is of Syrian heritage, moved to the country in 2000 to marry the president, who had previously been an ophthalmologist in Britain.
Britain's Home Office said yesterday that a British citizen subject to a EU travel ban could not be refused entry into the country. However, Nigel Kushner, a British lawyer who is an expert on sanctions, said he believed Asma Assad is now effectively banned from traveling to the United Kingdom.
"No EU national and no EU company can make any funds or any economic resources available to Asma Assad, nor can anyone receive funds or economic resources from her," Kushner said. "And that means that, essentially, she won't be able to go on any shopping trips in the EU or via third parties."
"To the extent she has any bank accounts in the EU, her assets will be frozen," he said - a sanction that would prevent her from selling property, receiving rent, or anything similar.
Annan and two aides will go to Moscow and Beijing to press the case for his six-point plan, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. "Negotiations are at a very delicate stage. He's not going to mediate through the media. The crisis on the ground is severe. We have to make progress on the ground soon."
The foreign ministers also imposed the same sanctions on President Bashar Assad's mother, sister and sister-in-law, and eight government ministers, in a continuing attempt to stop the bloody crackdown on opposition in the country.
In addition, the assets of two Syrian companies have been frozen, an EU official said. Bashar Assad himself has been the subject of EU sanctions since May.
Also yesterday the United Nations announced that the joint UN-Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, would travel to Russia and China for more talks aimed at peacefully resolving the crisis. The UN estimates that more than 8,000 people have been killed since an uprising began in Syria a year ago.
The EU has imposed 12 previous rounds of sanctions against the Syrian government, yet the crackdown has only intensified. But French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said he believed what he described as the three pillars of the regime were getting weaker.
"The army is crumbling. The second pillar, the economy, is unstable. The third is terror," Valero said in Paris.
Asma Assad, 36, was born in London, spent much of her life there, and has British citizenship. She has been seen as the softer face of the ruling family - an attractive and refined woman dubbed "chic" by France's Elle magazine and "sexy" by The Sun, Britain's top-selling tabloid.
Vogue magazine praised her for her charity work, calling her "Rose of the Desert."
Asma Assad, who is of Syrian heritage, moved to the country in 2000 to marry the president, who had previously been an ophthalmologist in Britain.
Britain's Home Office said yesterday that a British citizen subject to a EU travel ban could not be refused entry into the country. However, Nigel Kushner, a British lawyer who is an expert on sanctions, said he believed Asma Assad is now effectively banned from traveling to the United Kingdom.
"No EU national and no EU company can make any funds or any economic resources available to Asma Assad, nor can anyone receive funds or economic resources from her," Kushner said. "And that means that, essentially, she won't be able to go on any shopping trips in the EU or via third parties."
"To the extent she has any bank accounts in the EU, her assets will be frozen," he said - a sanction that would prevent her from selling property, receiving rent, or anything similar.
Annan and two aides will go to Moscow and Beijing to press the case for his six-point plan, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. "Negotiations are at a very delicate stage. He's not going to mediate through the media. The crisis on the ground is severe. We have to make progress on the ground soon."
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