Syria: Obama lifting ban on aviation tech sales
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 E-Mail this story Free Headline Alerts
NICOSIA Ñ The United States has ended its aerospace embargo on Syria, officials said. Syria is still the primary transit point for Al Qaida operatives entering Iraq.
The officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has decided to approve U.S. aerospace exports to Syria. They said the decision to suspend sanctions would enable U.S. contractors to sell civilian aircraft and spare parts to the regime of President Bashar Assad.
"We are focusing with President Obama's administration on using the U.S. president's executive authority to suspend the execution of the important articles in the sanctions law," Syrian ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustafa, said.
Officials said the Obama decision does not lift a U.S. military embargo on Syria.
In June 2009, a delegation from U.S. Central Command visited Syria to discuss cooperation along the border with Iraq. Syria is still regarded as the leading waystation for Al Qaida operatives assigned to Iraq.
In an interview to Syrian television on July 27, Mustafa said the U.S. decision would allow American companies to sell civilian aircraft, systems and safety equipment. The ambassador said the Obama administration also would permit the U.S. export of advanced communications and information technology systems and software to Damascus.
The United States has not confirmed the Syrian report. In May 2009, Washington angered Damascus when the White House renewed the Syrian Accountability Act, sanctions enacted by Congress in 2003.
Officials said the U.S. decision marked the first stage of normalization between Washington and Damascus. They said the decision to abolish U.S. sanctions from Syria would require approval by Congress.
"This is a complicated issue," Mustafa said.
The Syrian announcement came in wake of a visit by U.S. envoy George Mitchell in late July. Officials said Mitchell, identified as the point man for U.S. relations with Damascus, reassured Assad that Washington intends to normalize ties with Syria over the next year.
Syria, a major ally of Iran, has a fleet of civilian aircraft, including Boeing passenger jets. Mustafa said Boeing has long fought U.S. sanctions that banned the export of aerospace equipment to Damascus.
In the interview, Mustafa said Obama plans to lift additional sanctions from Syria, which remains on the U.S. State Department list of terrorist sponsors. The ambassador did not elaborate.