Sanctions group eases restrictions on rebel-held Syria

Share

Western and Middle Eastern countries trying to tighten pressure on Syria's Assad regime have endorsed efforts to create two-track economic sanctions, so that needed equipment can be sold to rebel-held areas of the country.

The sanctions group the Friends of Syria – 42 countries plus the Arab League, the European Union, and Syria's opposition coalition – met in Ottawa on Tuesday. It condemned the entry of Hezbollah into the fighting, asserted President Bashar al-Assad should have no role in governing Syria, and looked for ways to use further sanctions to press him to negotiate a transition from power.

But part of the discussion was on easing sanctions – not on the Assad regime, but for areas under control of the opposition. The United States and the European Union have already begun to do that, so that equipment for power plants, water-treatment plants, agriculture and other uses can be sold in those regions.

"All of this was designed to reach out to the opposition and help them help the people of Syria in places where they can control," Ambassador Daniel Fried, the U.S. sanctions co-ordinator, said in an interview with The Globe and Mail.

The goal is to increase pressure on Mr. al-Assad, but allow the local economy in rebel-held areas to perform better.

The problem for many of the countries at the conference, including Canada, is that Syria's opposition includes a hodgepodge of factions and militias. Ottawa has not committed to arming rebels even after the U.S. decided this month to do so. And it worries about lifting sanctions on areas held by rebel groups it considers little better than the Assad regime.

"There was a lot of discussion on the need to be careful, so that you're only lifting sanctions on the right people and not the wrong people," Mr. Fried said.

"I'm aware of the Canadian position, and fully understand their point that we need to be careful. But in fact the Canadians understood and were supportive of the easing of economic sanctions on behalf of what we call the legitimate opposition. We made it clear that we ourselves, the United States, look at specific deals on a case-by-case basis, in order to address the concerns that we and the Canadians share."

The Friends of Syria group also agreed to tighten restrictions on supplying telecommunications equipment that the Assad regime could use for surveillance, and also on buying Syrian commodities like phosphates. But the group's power is limited.

The sanctions it agrees to are strictly voluntary, because Russia and China have opposed global sanctions at the United Nations Security Council. Most members of the Friends of Syria , including countries in Europe, North America, and most of the Sunni-majority nations in the Middle East, have already imposed relatively far-reaching sanctions on the Assad regime.

But while the initial goal of the sanctions was to force Mr. al-Assad to surrender to the opposition, there's a diplomatic goal now. The U.S. and Russia have endorsed a new peace conference, dubbed Geneva Two, where the Assad regime and the opposition would negotiate the creation of a transitional conference. The goal of sanctions now, Mr. Fried said, is to press Mr. al-Assad to make a deal.

"The purpose of the sanctions, the purpose of the pressure, and indeed the purpose of support for the opposition generally, is to create conditions for a successful Geneva Two," he said.