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| Identifier | Subject | Date | Office | Classification | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05DAMASCUS6684 |
SANCTIONS: LICENSING DELAYS FOR AVIATION SAFETY [...] (U) On December 26, Syrian Arab Airlines began executing its plan to ferry, in tandem with Saudi Airlines, some 25,000 Syrian Hajj participants to Jidda and Medina. At the same time, a reporter for as-Sharq al-Awsat approached us on a story she is researching on the adverse effect US trade s [...] |
2005-12-28 14:08:00 | Embassy Damascus | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06BEIRUT847 |
FINCEN NOTICE ON COMMERCIAL BANK OF SYRIA [...] On March 9, Charge conveyed to Mohamed Baasiri, head of the Special Investigations Commission (SIC) of the Central Bank of Lebanon, reftel talking points and the text of a background paper provided by the Department. These materials were also provided to Walid Alameddine, head of Lebanon's B [...] |
2006-03-17 16:14:00 | Embassy Beirut | UNCLASSIFIED | EFIN PTER ECON SANC LE SY |
| 06DAMASCUS1014 |
IN THE FACE OF SECTION 311 SANCTIONS, SYRIA [...] (C) Summary: As we move to impose sanctions against the Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) under USAPATRIOT Act Section 311, it has become increasingly clear that the threat of sanctions succeeded in making it difficult for Syrian public financial institutions to conduct business with foreign bank [...] |
2006-03-08 11:19:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN EINV PTER SANC SY |
| 06DAMASCUS1510 |
UNDP AGREES TO HELP SARG LEASE AIRPLANES [...] (U) On April 4, local press reported that a UNDP expert was consulting with Syrian officials from the Ministry of Transportation, the Civil Aviation Establishment, and Syrian Arab Airlines regarding SyrianAir's desire to lease commercial airplanes. The UNDP expert's visit is part of a project [...] |
2006-04-04 14:17:00 | Embassy Damascus | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS1926 |
SYRIA'S ECONOMY - FRAGILE STABILITY [...] (U) Summary. Syria,s economy is benefiting from the high price of oil and other positive trends, but faces two chronic economic problems that could become acute in the next two to three years: decreasing oil production and rising unemployment. The economy is also hamstrung by a number of sho [...] |
2006-04-27 15:21:00 | Embassy Damascus | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS1952 |
AIRLINES IN SYRIA SEEKING TO OBTAIN AIRCRAFT [...] (C) Summary: According to a recently commissioned International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) report, only four to six of Syrian Arab Airlines' 16 airplanes are currently fit to fly. As a result of U.S. sanctions, SyrianAir is facing difficulty obtaining U.S. or European-sourced aircra [...] |
2006-04-30 13:31:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS1979 |
DARDARI ANNOUNCES SARG'S RECOMMITMENT TO ECONOMIC [...] (U) As the key-note speaker at the launching of a new economic NGO on April 29, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Abdullah Dardari, announced the SARG,s intention to move forward soon on new economic reforms, including: reducing subsidies, reforming the public sector, and reforming m [...] |
2006-05-01 11:36:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EINV ETTC PGOV SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS2189 |
MARATHON ONE STEP CLOSER TO DIVESTING [...] (U) On May 10, the AP and other news services reported that Marathon Oil Company concluded a USD 127 million deal to develop an oil and gas concession in the center of Syria despite looming US sanctions. In spite of the news report implying otherwise, Marathon,s concession is actually quite o [...] |
2006-05-10 12:37:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS276 |
SANCTIONS: REACTION TO THE SHAWKAT DESIGNATION [...] (C) Summary. The Treasury Department,s designation of President Asad,s brother-in-law, Asif Shawkat, received considerable regional press coverage and stirred some internal discussion in Damascus. The move was quietly welcomed by most groups, including the Sunni business community, though m [...] |
2006-01-25 14:25:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EINV ETTC PGOV SANC SY |
| 06DAMASCUS3 |
SYRIA'S CORRUPT CLASSES [...] (C) Summary: The Syrian economy continues to be dominated by a "corrupt class" who use their personal ties to members of the Asad family and the Syrian security services to gain monopolistic control over most sectors of the economy, while enriching themselves and their regime benefactors. The [...] |
2006-01-02 10:50:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN PTER SY LE SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS4045 |
INITIAL REACTIONS TO THE IKHTIYAR AND JAMA'A'S [...] (U) On 16 August, the quasi-independent Syrian news web site, Champress, ran an article on the Treasury Department's designation of Hisham Ikhtiyar, director of the Ba'ath Party Regional Command's National Security Bureau, and Jama,a Jama,a, former commander of Syrian Military Intelligence's h [...] |
2006-08-17 15:08:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS4161 |
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL LARGEST WINNER IN CURRENT BID [...] (C) Summary. In addition to being awarded new concessions in the most recent bid round, Royal Dutch Shell is aggressively pursuing a number of new initiatives which, if successful, would expand the company's already considerable presence in Syria. More quietly and with a much lower profile, [...] |
2006-08-23 13:53:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EPET ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS605 |
ASSESSMENT OF TARGETED FINANCIAL SANCTIONS AGAINST [...] (C) Summary: Post offers the following observations based on its experience thus far with targeted financial sanctions against SARG officials and other Syrian entities. First, maximizing media coverage of the designation increases the "name and shame" effect. The designation of Asif Shawkat [...] |
2006-02-13 14:27:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | EFIN ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS65 |
APPLYING TARGETED SANCTIONS TO SYRIA [...] No summary [...] |
2006-01-04 13:46:00 | Embassy Damascus | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS68 |
APPLYING TARGETED SANCTIONS TO SYRIA [...] (C) Summary. As post has reported previously, the average Syrian would welcome targeted sanctions that focus on regressive elements within the Asad regime. The best mix in our judgement would be sanctions that are phased, multi-lateral, and widely publicized. Most of our Syrian interlocuto [...] |
2006-01-04 14:08:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | EAIR ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 06DAMASCUS69 |
SARG ORDERS SYRIAN BANKS TO FREEZE KHADDAM'S ASSETS [...] (C) On January 2, the SARG ordered all Syrian banks, as well as those subsidiaries of foreign banks operating in the Syrian free zones, to freeze immediately the assets of former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam and his family. A faxed letter from the Central Bank's Combating Money Launderin [...] |
2006-01-04 14:14:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN SY SANC |
| 07DAMASCUS108 |
NEW TACTICS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SARG REGIME [...] (C) Summary. As the USG continues to consider strategies for increasing the pressure on SARG regime members and supporters, post solicits Washington's feedback on our below suggestions for expanding the use of sanctions against the Syrian regime. Targeted sanctions can help to delegitimize co [...] |
2007-02-01 14:43:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | EFIN ECON ETTC SY SANC |
| 07DAMASCUS173 |
311 SANCTIONS CASTING A SHADOW ON THE CBS'S FUTURE [...] (C) Summary. Financial sanctions under USAPATRIOT Act Section 311 continue to put pressure on the Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) nearly a year after the final ruling was imposed. Nonetheless, the CBS, up till now, is managing to maintain its central role in Syria's banking sector. While some [...] |
2007-02-22 14:13:00 | Embassy Damascus | CONFIDENTIAL | ECON EFIN SANC ETTC PREL KTFN SY |
| 07DAMASCUS269 |
TREASURY TEAM’S DAMASCUS CONSULTATIONS ON [...] (S/NF) Summary: Treasury representatives recently visited Post to discuss options for using financial sanctions to apply pressure to the Syrian regime. We discussed: -- Treasury's requirements for finalizing the pending designations of Mohammad Sulayman and Ali Mamluk, and Treasury's information re [...] |
2007-03-15 15:41:00 | Embassy Damascus | SECRET | EFIN ECON ETTC SY SANC |