The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB) Wednesday after it was found to be acting as a front for two other banks sanctioned for propping up the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The move comes after evidence of widespread massacres of innocent civilians has caused multiple countries to suspend diplomatic relations with Damascus.
"Today's action will add to the economic pressure on the Assad regime by closing off a key evasion route," Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen said.
"The Treasury Department, working with others around the world who share our goal of ending the brutal repression of the Syrian people, will continue to close off the Assad regime's access to the international financial system."
The designation was made under Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which was signed by President George W. Bush on June 29, 2005. E.O. 13382 allows the U.S. to freeze the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, isolating them financially.
SIIB was found to be "acting for or on behalf of the Commercial Bank of Syria and providing services to the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank," which therefore empowers Treasury to also restrict its actions. The sanctions "prohibit all transactions between the designees and any U.S. person, and freeze any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction."
SIIB is partially owned by the state of Qatar, whose Qatar International Islamic Bank holds a 30 percent share, with another 18 percent held by family members of Qatari emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani.
However, Cohen told reporters he believed "the investors will be ending their financial relation with SIIB" and stressed the Qatari investors would not be targeted by the sanctions. The U.S. has been hesitant to openly criticize the Qatari regime, with whom they have extensive economic and trade ties, especially in the hydrocarbon sector.
The move comes after Syrian diplomats were expelled from the France, Australia, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria and today Turkey after a massive civilian massacre was uncovered in the town of Houla in Homs province, a flashpoint of the fighting and anti-government activity.
"We hold the Syrian government responsible for this slaughter of innocent lives," State Department spokeswoman Toria Nuland told reporters Tuesday. "This massacre is the most unambiguous indictment to date of the Syrian government's flagrant violations of its U.N. Security Council obligations."
In addition to the over 100 people found massacred in Houla this week, 13 more bodies were found Wednesday. The Assad government continues to blame "armed terrorist gangs" backed by Islamists and foreign mercenaries for the violence, which has lead to the death of at least 9,000 Syrians, according to the UN.
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