U.S. Blacklists Muallem, Shaaban, Syrian Envoy to Lebanon

The U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on Syria's foreign minister and two other top officials Tuesday, adding new pressure on the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Asset freezes and bans on business interactions were imposed on Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, top presidential advisor Buthaina Shaaban, and Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali, the Treasury said.

"Building on our sanctions targeting the entire government of Syria, we are bringing additional pressure to bear today directly on three senior Assad regime officials who are principal defenders of the regime's activities," said Treasury Under Secretary David Cohen.

The new sanctions follow an August 18 order signed by President Barack Obama that froze all Syrian state assets inside the United States and forbade investment and exports to the country, due to the Assad government's deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

It also banned imports of oil and gas from Syria, aiming to hurt a key revenue stream for the Assad regime.

The attacks on protesters "constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States," the presidential order said.

For her part, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland linked the sanctions to "the role that (the three) play in propagating and advancing the reign of terror that Assad is exacting on his own people."

She charged that Muallem has "continued to beat this drum of international conspiracy and has attempted to cover up the regime's horrific activities by making claims that terrorists or others were responsible."

Nuland said "Shaaban has served as the public mouthpiece for the repression of the regime."

She expressed U.S. concern that Ali Abdul Karim Ali had maintained "close ties" with Syrian intelligence throughout his diplomatic career and pursued activities in Lebanon that were "not compatible" with his diplomatic status.

"We have been concerned -- and we've conveyed these concerns to the Lebanese government -- about harassment of Syrians in Lebanon and the disappearance of some of them," Nuland said.