East-West Debt july 2004 news, Emerging Markets update : SYRIA
Syria is next to feel the
heat
As Libya has been seen to
take concrete steps towards
reconciliation with the United
States and Great Britain, Washington’s
focus has shifted
towards Syria.
The Bush’s Republican
government thinks that Syria
had not done enough to deter
terrorist activities within its borders
or to halt the flow of militant
insurgents and weapons
into Iraq. As a result, secretary
of state Collin Powell said, sections
of the Syria Accountability
Act - a system of political and
economic sanctions - would
soon be brought to bear on the
country. The sanction options
include a ban on US business
investment, a freeze on Syrian
assets in the US, reduction in
diplomatic contacts, a ban on all
US exports except food and
medicine and a ban on Syrian
airlines in American airspace.
“We are examining now
what sections of the act we want
to use”, Powell said. “Syria has
not done what we demanded of
it.” But Muhammad Khaddam,
Syrian chargé d’affaires in Washington,
claimed that it was
“impossible” to police Syria’ s
600 kilometer border with Iraq
with the scant resources available.
He stressed that stability in
neighbouring Iraq was “even
more” important for Syria than
for the US because of its geographic
and political proximity.
According to the British newspaper
The Guardian senior Iraqi
intelligence officers believe an
Islamic militant group which has
claimed responsibility for two
suicide bombings and a spate of
deadly attacks in Iraq is receiving
significant help from both
Iran and Syria. The officers
claim that members of Jaish
Ansar al-Sunna (‘the army of
the supporters of the savings of
the prophet’) have been “given
shelter by Syrian and Iranian
security agencies and have been
able to enter Iraq with ease”.
Reports like these seem to fuel
the already high level of frustration
in the Bush administration
over Syria. A range of sanctions
is under consideration but it is
possible Damascus would be
given more time, perhaps until
the summer, to meet US
demands.
Mr Powell made the US position
clear when he visited President
Bashar al-Assad in Damascus in
May of last year. In addition to
the implementation of anti-terrorist
measures, he also demanded
that assets belonging to
Saddam Hussein and his associates
allegedly held in Syrian
banks be returned to the Iraqi
people.
Meanwhile, the British government
is taking a different approach.
The United Kingdom is
in an “on-going dialogue” with
President Bashar Assad to persuade
him to follow Libya’s
example and to sign up to treaties
covering WMD, a spokesman
for prime minister Tony
Blair has said. Syria’s president
is reported to have said he
would not comply until Israel
abandons its nuclear weapons
programme.
Not only on the political
field, Syria can be a pain in the
ass. The Syrian debt market is
no different. As long as we are
talking about bank guaranteed
debts, like claims on the Commercial
Bank of Syria, there are
still possibilities. More difficult it
becomes when one has a claim
on the various state enterprises.
Clever as they are, the Syrians
gave a distinct judicial personality
to all their state enterprises
and have done their utmost to
prevent that someone can break
through the corporate veil.
Nevertheless, it has been done
in the past and we feel confident
we can do it again.
 FRAUD IN THIRD PARTY TRANSPORT DOCUMENT
ARGENTINA
IRAQ
LYBIA
SYRIA
CONGO
IRAN
KENYA
MOLDOVA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
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