You're reading: U.S. to announce Syria sanctions on Friday

The United States will announce sanctions on Friday against Syria's main intelligence agency and two relatives of President Bashar al-Assad in response to his government's crackdown on protests, two U.S. officials said.

One official told Reuters that Mahir al-Assad, Bashar’s brother, and Atif Najib, one of his cousins, were among the five targets of U.S. sanctions related to alleged human rights violations.

The source said Mahir al-Assad is a brigade commander in the Syrian Army’s 4th Armored Division that has played a key role in Deraa, where protesters have been killed by security forces.

Najib is described as a former head of the Political Security Directorate for Deraa.

The new sanctions also target the General Intelligence Directorate and its director, Ali Mamluk. The spy agency is accused by U.S. officials of repressing dissent and monitoring individual citizens, and of involvement in the killing of protesters in Deraa.

The fifth target is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force, which is already under U.S. sanctions for supporting militant groups around the world.

The Quds Force is a branch of the Iranian government’s principal security agency which operates outside Iran and has in the past been accused by U.S. officials of interfering extensively in political and insurgent activities in Iraq.

A source familiar with the new sanctions said the Quds Force is accused by the Obama administration of being the conduit for support Iran has provided to Syrian authorities in their crackdown on protesters.

The officials said the Obama administration was also revoking several licenses the U.S. government had granted for the export of equipment or other goods to Syria.

One of the licenses to be revoked, the officials said, would have allowed the Syrians to obtain a luxury aircraft believed to be sought for Assad’s personal use.

The White House will announce the measures later on Friday, the officials said.
The White House is "not ready" to call for Assad to step down, one of the officials said, because President Barack Obama and his aides "do not want to get out in front of the Syrian people."