The 18 year old son of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was imposed with sanctions by the US. Hafez al-Assad will not be allowed to travel or maintain assets in the United States, the State Department said. Hafez al-Assad, the eldest of the Syrian Presidents 3 children had made headlines a few years back for his mathematical genius and passion for science.
The sanctions are on the grounds of the Caesar Act, a US law that took effect in June that aims never to normalize the Assad regime even as it succeeds in winning back most of Syria after a brutal nine-year war.The new rule basically aims to destabilze the Syrian regime by imposing sanctions to weaken the economy.Wassim Anwar al-Qattan,a Syrian billionaire involved in many construction projects in Damascus was also sanctioned yesterday.
The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.”We will continue to hold Bashar al-Assad and his regime accountable for their atrocities, while keeping the memory of their victims alive,”
The United States, however, has not yet targeted business interests from Assad’s key ally Russia.Fears of action against foreign investors under the Caesar Act have wreaked havoc on Syria’s war-ravaged economy by clouding hopes for reconstruction.
Idlib remains the last bastion of opposition forces including jihadists who have battled Assad in a war that has claimed more than 380,000 lives, displaced millions and fueled the rise of the ultra-violent Islamic State group.
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