U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday said he plans to maintain existing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria, even as he attempts to reach out to the Middle Eastern nation, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, April 7).
(May. 11) -
U.S. President Barack Obama indicated Friday that he would maintain sanctions targeting Syria over its WMD activities and support for terrorism (Mark Wilson/Getty Images).
"The actions of the government of Syria in supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States," Obama wrote in a letter to Congress.
Syria is believed to hold a sizable stockpile of chemical weapons. It has denied assertions that a facility destroyed in a 2007 Israeli airstrike housed a reactor intended to produce plutonium for a nuclear-weapon program.
Obama has made diplomacy with Damascus a foreign-policy priority, and last week sent two high-level envoys to meet with Syrian officials. However, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the president is required by law to decide each year whether to renew the sanctions -- first levied in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush as punishment for Syria's alleged sponsorship of terrorism, efforts to impede U.S. success in Iraq, and attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction -- and he wants to see Syria shape up its behavior before lifting the penalties.
"We have very serious concerns about Syrian behavior," Wood said. "And those haven't gone away. But what we're saying is instead of isolating Syria, we're willing to engage them."
The United States has had minimal diplomatic contact with Syria since recalling its ambassador in 2005.
"The Syrians have said a lot of very positive things," Wood said, "but we need to see actions. And as far as I'm aware, they haven't taken any steps that at this point would lead us to change, to move in another directions right now" (Robert Burns, Associated Press/Google News, May 8).