Bush extends Syrian sanctions for one year
From Andrea Koppel
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush has extended U.S. economic sanctions against Syria for one year, saying its government still posed a threat to national security, foreign policy and the economy.
Syria supports terrorism by "continuing its occupation of Lebanon," as well as "pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs," Bush said in a written statement Thursday.
Bush said Syria also was "undermining" international efforts to stabilize and rebuild Iraq.
According to Syria, it has withdrawn its 14,000 troops from neighboring Lebanon, which it had occupied for decades.
In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month, Syria said it has "fully withdrawn all ... military, security apparatus and assets to their positions in Syria on the 26th of April 2005."
A U.N. team of military experts was sent to Lebanon to verify the full withdrawal.
Bush imposed the sanctions May 11, 2004, using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Under them, assets of a number of Syrians were frozen in the United States, banking relations with the Commercial Bank of Syria were suspended, and Syrian flights to and from the United States were suspended.
