By Abdel Latif Wahba - Nov 27, 2011 4:46 PM GMT+0700
Arab foreign ministers will meet today in Cairo to discuss possible sanctions against Syria after it failed to allow observers to verify its compliance with an accord to stop violence against protesters.
The ministers will consider measures including a travel ban on senior officials, a freeze on assets and the stoppage of flights to the country, the Arab League’s Deputy Secretary- General Ahmed Ben Heli said yesterday. The League rejected Syrian requests to negotiate the terms of the deal, which was agreed on Nov. 2. The original deadline was Nov. 19.
The regime of President Bashar Al-Assad is under increasing pressure to end an eight-month crackdown in line with pledges made to the League. Syrian security forces killed three protesters today and 29 yesterday, including five children, Al- Jazeera reported, citing activists.
“The Arab ministers will decide what can be implemented,” Ben Heli told reporters in the Egyptian capital, where the League is based.
Syria buried 25 soldiers, including six pilots, who were killed by the “armed terrorist groups,” the Syrian Arab News Agency reported today. Their deaths were “blatant proof of organized terrorism against Syria,” the news service said, citing Ghassan Abdelaal, the governor of Homs.
Syria Suspended
The United Nations estimates that at least 3,500 people have been killed since the start of the protests in mid-March.
The League suspended Syria, a founding member, for its handling of the unrest about two weeks ago. It was the boldest action by the organization since its condemnation of Muammar Qaddafi’s repression of protests in Libya paved the way for a UN resolution in March authorizing a North Atlantic Treaty Organization campaign in the North African nation.
In the first sign that Gulf companies may start re- evaluating their investments in Syria, Banque Saudi Fransi (BSFR), a Saudi lender part-owned by Credit Agricole SA, said yesterday it will sell its 27 percent stake in Bemo Saudi Fransi Syria and its 10 percent share capital in Bemo Lebanon.
“The financial risks in the Syrian Arab Republic do not permit Banque Saudi Fransi to continue as partner,” the Riyadh- based lender said in the statement on the Saudi bourse website. The bank “is no longer represented in the board of directors of Bemo Saudi Fransi Syria and Bemo Lebanon.”
Shrinking Economy
A planned auction for a mobile telephone license was abandoned this year after unrest spread and companies including Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Corp. and Turkey’s Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TCELL) pulled out. Syria had encouraged private industry and foreign investment in its state-dominated economy to provide long-term financing for development.
Syria’s $60 billion economy, which expanded 5.5 percent in 2010, may shrink 2 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The government expects growth of 1 percent, Finance minister Mohammad Al-Jleilati said in September.
The U.S. and the European Union have already imposed sanctions on Syria targeting companies and senior officials. Russia and China on Oct. 4 blocked a Security Council resolution calling on Assad to halt the deadly crackdown. Iraq yesterday said it would oppose Arab sanctions on Syria, the al-Sumaria news service reported, citing Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.
“It’s not possible to impose sanctions on Syria,” Zebari was quoted as saying by the Baghdad-based news service. “Iraq will declare reservation if economic sanctions are imposed.”
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have urged their nationals to leave Syria. Qatar today advised its citizens to refrain from traveling to Syria, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Abdel Latif Wahba in Cairo at alatifwahba@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
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