A senior U.S. official will travel to Lebanon and Jordan over Syria’s possible attempts to evade U.S. and EU sanctions through the two nations’ financial sectors, the Treasury Department said on Monday.
While in Beirut, Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Terrorist Financing Daniel Glaser will “highlight the need for authorities to remain vigilant against attempts by the Syrian regime to evade U.S. and EU sanctions through the Lebanese financial sector,” the Treasury said in a statement.
In addition, he will meet with senior Lebanese government officials, regulators and banking sector executives to underscore the importance of the nation’s continued efforts to maintain a transparent, sound and well-regulated financial sector.
In Amman, Glaser will brief officials on the effects of U.S. and EU sanctions against the Syrian government and “urge vigilance against possible attempts by Syria” to evade the sanctions through the Jordanian financial sector, the Treasury said.
The U.S. and its European allies have imposed a set of sanctions on senior Syrian government officials and entities, and called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, as anti- government protests have continued unabated across the Arab nation since March, leaving more than 3,000 people dead.
In his current tour on Nov. 7-14, Glaser will first go to Moscow to brief senior Russian government officials on the Obama administration’s strategy to combat transnational organized crime and build on ongoing cooperation with Russia to protect the international financial system from the threat posed by transnational criminal organizations, the Treasury said.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.