The Trump administration blacklisted hundreds of employees of a Syrian government agency on Monday for what Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said was the use of sarin gas on civilians in early April.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children," Mnuchin said.

The measures target 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), making it one of the US Treasury's largest sanctions announcements.

All of the employees have expertise in chemistry or related fields and have worked or been involved in the chemical weapons program since 2012, said a US Treasury statement.

The sanctions include a freeze on all US assets and block any American business or person from dealing with them.

The British government welcomed US sanctions on Monday, saying the sanctions sent a signal that "actions have consequences."

"Sanctions send a clear signal that actions have consequences and seek to deter others from similar acts of barbarism. We welcome the role sanctions play in increasing pressure on the Syrian regime to turn away from its military campaign," Foreign Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment Sanctions hinder imports Six years of conflict have brought the Syrian health service, once one of the best in the Middle East, close to collapse. Fewer than half of the country's hospitals are fully functioning. Around 200 children visit the Children's Hospital in Damascus every week, with more than 70 percent from outside the capital.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment Foreign firms remain wary Young cancer patients wait for treatment at Damascus Children's Hospital. Local and World Health Organization officials blame Western sanctions for severely restricting pharmaceutical imports, even though medical supplies are largely exempt from measures imposed by the United States and European Union.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment State spending cuts Cuts in health expenditure by the Syrian government fighting a hugely expensive war, a drastic fall in the value of the currency and indirect effects of the sanctions are all deepening the misery of patients who need foreign-made drugs. Before the conflict, Syria produced 90 percent of the medicines it needed but anti-cancer drugs were among those where it traditionally relied on imports.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment Cuts in Syria's health budget Nurses taking care of a sick child. The World Health Organization in Syria, says medicine imports have been hit by significant cuts in the government's health budget since the war began in 2011. Adding up tot hat is a 90 percent drop in the value of the Syrian pound, which has made some pharmaceuticals prohibitively expensive.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment More than a lack of cash "The impact of economic sanctions imposed on Syria heavily affected the procurement of some specific medicine including anti-cancer medicines," says Elizabeth Hoff, the WHO representative in Syria. "The sanctions were preventing many international pharmaceutical companies from dealing with the Syrian authorities as well as hindering foreign banks in handling payments for imported drugs."

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment Patients waiting for treatment Cancer patient Fahd plays with his mobile phone while his mother sits by his bed. Both the U.S. and EU sanctions include exemptions for medicines and other humanitarian supplies. However, by clamping down on financial transactions and barring much business with the Syrian government, the sanctions are indirectly affecting trade in pharmaceuticals.

Syria sanctions hit child cancer treatment Delays in treatment One private charity, Basma, is trying to help out by funding cancer drugs for poor families. The proportion of patients who need assistance has risen from about 30 percent to nearly 80 percent since the war began, according to executive manager Rima Salem. Salem finds the delays in treatment worrying. "A child with cancer might die waiting for his turn to get treatment," she said. Author: Nadine Berghausen



Targeting science center

The US said the SSRC was responsible for developing the chemical weapon used in the April 4 attack in the rebel-held province of Idlib. The attack left 87 people dead in the town of Khan Sheikhun, including many children, prompting outrage from Western countries.

Washington has said Assad's forces carried out the attack while Assad has said the attack is a "fabrication" by the West.

Although the Syrian government maintains that the SSRC is a civilian research center, "its activities focus substantively on the development of biological and chemical weapons," US officials said.

Former US President George W. Bush issued the first sanctions against the SSRC in 2005, accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction.

Under President Barack Obama, the United States sanctioned people and companies for supporting the SSRC in July 2016. And prior to Trump taking office, the Treasury sanctioned six SSRC officials on January 12, saying the officials were affiliated with chemical weapons research programs.

Steps against Syrian government

The US Treasury's move to sanction SSRC employees follows the US military's firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield on April 7. The Pentagon said the Syrian government air base was used to launch the chemical attack.

The attack was also debated in the United Nations Security Council. A resolution demanding the Syrian government's cooperation with an investigation of the attack was vetoed by Russia, a close ally of Assad, on April 12.

rs/bw (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)</s>The United States has issued 271 sanctions in response to Syrian president Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

It is one of the largest sanction actions in US history.

The government said on Monday that it issued sanctions against 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.

The action was announced in a statement by the Treasury Department, and Treasury Security Steve Mnuchin simultaneously briefed reporters at the White House.

The new sanctions are the latest US response to Mr Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons, most recently in rebel-held northern Idlib, in an attack that killed more than 80 civilians.

The US retaliated earlier this month by launching missiles against a Syrian airfield.</s>WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department said the 271 employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center are experts in chemistry and related fields, or have worked in support of the center's "chemical weapons program" since at least 2012, or both.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children," U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati and Joel Schectman; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)</s>The U.S. government on April 24 announced the imposition of "sweeping sanctions" against Syrian government officials in response to what Washington says was a sarin gas attack against Syrian civilians by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in early April.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it ordered a freeze on all assets in the United States belonging to 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC).

The sanctions also make it illegal for any American person or business to deal with those 271 individuals.

A Treasury Department statement said the SSRC was responsible for producing the chemical weapons that Washington thinks were used in the April 4 attack.

The suspected chemical attack killed 87 people, including many children, in opposition-held territory in Idlib Province.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: "These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children."

He said the sanctions are a "strong message" that Washington will "hold the entire Assad regime accountable."

The United States fired 59 cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield on April 7 in response to the suspected chemical weapons attack.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP</s>The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 employees of a Syrian government agency it said was responsible for developing chemical weapons, weeks after a poison gas attack killed scores of people in a rebel-held province in Syria.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 271 employees of Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an agency that Washington says develops chemical weapons for the government of Bashar al-Assad, the Treasury said in a statement.

Some of the people blacklisted had worked on Syria’s chemical weapons program for more than five years, the Treasury Department said. The sanction orders U.S. banks to freeze the assets of any employees named, and bans American companies from conducting business with them.

Those designated were “highly educated” individuals likely to be able to travel outside of Syria and use the international financial system even if they may not have assets abroad, administration officials said during a conference call with reporters.

“These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women, and children,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

U.S. authorities, he said, would “relentlessly pursue and shut down the financial networks of all individuals involved with the production of chemical weapons used to commit these atrocities.”

The sanctions listings are the latest action taken by the Trump Administration in response to the April 4 chemical attack on Khan Sheikhoun that U.S. authorities say killed nearly 90 people, including children. The United States says Assad’s forces carried out the attack, while Assad has said the attack is a fabrication.

Earlier this month, the United States launched dozens of missiles against a Syrian air base the Pentagon says was used to launch the chemical attack.

President George W. Bush first placed sanctions against the SSRC in 2005, accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction.

Although the Syrian government promotes the SSRC as a civilian research center, “its activities focus substantively on the development of biological and chemical weapons,” U.S. officials said.

During the Obama administration, the United States in July 2016 sanctioned people and companies for supporting the SSRC, and on Jan. 12, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned six SSRC officials it said were linked to SSRC branches affiliated with chemical weapons logistics or research.</s>The United States has sanctioned 271 Syrian government employees in response to Bashar Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons.

The move marks one of the largest sanction actions in US history and means American companies are banned from doing business with any of the workers.

The US is responding after least 80 people, including children, were killed in a rebel-held town in northern Syria on 4 April.

Nato have accused the Syrian President of gassing his own people in the attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.

The British government said earlier this month that tests in the UK confirmed that sarin or a "sarin like substance" had been used in the suspected gas explosion.

The sanctions have been placed on employees at Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Centre, the Syrian government agency responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons.</s>The United States on Monday blacklisted 271 Syrian chemists and employees of a government research centre as punishment for the country’s alleged role in the recent chemical attack that killed nearly 100 civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in the rebel-held Idlib province. Inclusion in the financial blacklist will mean that the assets belonging to these individuals in the US will be frozen and people and businesses in the country will be barred from dealing with them, AFP reported.

The US Treasury Department blamed the government-run Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre for developing the sarin gas weapon believed to have been used in the chemical attack. According to Washington-based think tank Nuclear Threat Initiative, SSRC has direct links to the Syrian military. These 271 individuals either have scientific expertise for the programme or have been involved in it since 2012.

“These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

This is one of the largest such penalties imposed at one go in US history, according to AP. However, this is not the first time that the US has issued sanctions against SSRC. In 2005 and 2007, the research centre faced sanctions for its alleged role in developing weapons of mass destruction.

The sanctions are the latest action taken by the Donald Trump administration in response to the April 4 chemical attack. On April 7, the US military had carried out targeted missile strikes on a Syrian base. The Syrian Army had said the strike had killed six troops and caused “big material losses”. Hours before launching the missile strike, US President Donald Trump had said that the poison gas attack had “crossed a lot of lines” for him.</s>The US government put 271 Syrian chemists and other officials on its financial blacklist Monday, punishing them for their presumed role in the deadly chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in early April.

In one of its largest-ever sanctions announcements, the Treasury Department took aim at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), which it said was responsible for developing the alleged sarin gas weapon used in the April 4 attack.

The attack left 87 dead, including many children, in the town of Khan Sheikhun, provoking outrage in the West, which accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible.

The sanctions will freeze all assets in the United States belonging to the 271 individuals on the blacklist, and block any American person or business from dealing with them.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, the SSRC is Syria's leading scientific reasearch center, with close links to the country's military.

The center was the subject of two earlier sanctions declarations, in 2005 and 2007, due to its alleged role in developing weapons of mass destruction.

The Treasury asserted in a statement Monday that the SSRC is behind the Syrian government's efforts to develop chemical weapons and the means to deliver them.

The 271 either have scientific expertise for the program or have been involved in it since 2012, the statement said.

"These sweeping sanctions target the scientific support center for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's horrific chemical weapons attack on innocent civilian men, women and children," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

"These sanctions are intended to hold the Assad regime and those who support it -- directly or indirectly -- accountable for the regime's blatant violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118," he said.

Assad has said the attack was a "fabrication" by the West.

But the US military quickly responded on April 7, firing 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian airfield to punish the government and send a warning against any further chemical weapons attacks.

An effort at the United Nations to add pressure on Damascus failed, however, when Assad's close ally Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution on April 12 demanding the Syrian government cooperate with an investigation of the attack.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson welcomed the US sanctions, saying they send a warning to those who would use chemical weapons.

"The abhorrent attack on Khan Sheikhun is a stark reminder that the international community must work together to deter the future use of chemical weapons in any circumstances," he said in a statement.

"We will continue our efforts to hold accountable those responsible for chemical attacks, including through the UN and EU, and to energize international support for the UN-led political process," he said.

"Only a political settlement will bring an end to the war in Syria."</s>U.S. Announces Sanctions On 271 Syrians Over April 4 Chemical Attack

The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions on 271 individuals, who it says are scientists working on weapons development for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The new sanctions are a response to the deadly April 4 chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, an attack the U.S. government accuses Assad of carrying out against civilians.

"Employees of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center [or SSRC] have been put on a U.S. blacklist," NPR's Michele Kelemen reports, "which means any assets they might have in the U.S. will be frozen and Americans are barred from doing any business with them."

In a statement, the Treasury Department called the spate of sanctions one of the largest the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, has ever imposed.

The department says in a statement that the SSRC is "responsible for developing and producing non-conventional weapons and the means to deliver them."

"These 271 SSRC employees have expertise in chemistry and related disciplines and/or have worked in support of SSRC's chemical weapons program since at least 2012," the Treasury Department alleges.

Earlier this year the OFAC sanctioned eight regime officials, as well as several organizations, over chlorine gas attacks in 2014 and 2015.

Reuters has more on the sanctions:

"Those designated were 'highly educated' individuals likely to be able to travel outside of Syria and use the international financial system even if they may not have assets abroad, administration officials said during a conference call with reporters. ... "President George W. Bush first placed sanctions against the SSRC in 2005, accusing it of producing weapons of mass destruction. "Although the Syrian government promotes the SSRC as a civilian research center, 'its activities focus substantively on the development of biological and chemical weapons,' U.S. officials said."

Assad has denied responsibility for the attack on Khan Shaykhun, and even suggested that the attack — documented on video and described by international aid groups who treated victims — was entirely a "fabrication."</s>The US government put 271 Syrian chemists and other officials on its financial blacklist Monday, punishing them for their presumed role in the deadly chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in early April.

In one of its largest-ever sanctions announcements, the Treasury Department took aim at the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), which it said was responsible for developing the alleged sarin gas weapon used in the April 4 attack.

The attack left 87 dead, including many children, in the town of Khan Sheikhun, provoking outrage in the West, which accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being responsible.

The sanctions will freeze all assets in the United States belonging to the 271 individuals on the blacklist, and block any American person or business from dealing with them.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based think tank, the SSRC is Syria’s leading scientific research centre, with close links to the country’s military.
The United States imposes sanctions on 271 employees of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center for their alleged role in developing weapons used in the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.