White House delayed Syria sanctions bill: report

WASHINGTON (AA) – The White House worked to stymy a new Syria sanctions bill that had bipartisan support, according to a report released Tuesday.

Last week’s House of Representatives bill, called the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, would have applied additional sanctions on the Syrian government for its killings of civilians and war crimes.

The Washington Post reported that the White House was able to convince House Democratic leaders to withdraw support for the bill as a fragile cease-fire began to take hold in the war-torn nation.

The bill says it is intended “To halt the wholesale slaughter of the Syrian people, encourage a negotiated political settlement, and hold Syrian human rights abusers accountable for their crimes.”

It would not only impose additional sanctions on Syria’s government, it would impose penalties on any entity that does business with it, its intelligence, security and military services, or its central bank.

Additional sanctions would be applied to anyone who assists Syria’s telecommunications, emergency and aerospace sectors.

The measures could be aimed at Russia and Iran who are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s principal backers, and without whose help he would likely have already fallen to opposition forces.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill in July.

The Post’s Josh Rogin wrote that House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office told him Democrats caved to the White House’s pressure.

“After President Obama’s disastrous handling of Syria, he’s now adding insult to injury by pressuring House Democrats to kill a bipartisan bill aimed at cleaning up his mess,” Ryan spokeswoman, AshLee Strong told Rogin.

An administration official denied the charges, telling Rogan that House Democrats abandoned their support of their own accord.

But congressional sources told the reporter the White House opposed the bill because Obama does not want to apply real pressure on Assad.

Citing a former policy director for Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce, Evan McMullin, Rogin wrote that Obama attempted to stop a former Syrian Army photographer from giving congressional testimony outlining gross human rights violations.

“In 2014, the administration fought hard to prevent Caesar from testifying to Congress and the public of Assad’s crimes, all in the name of security,” McMullin told Rogin, referring to the whistle-blower. “Now they’ve mobilized similarly against the sanctions bill, which is the very thing needed to help compel Assad to stop killing.”

Anadolu Agency was among a handful of media outlets to first run Caesar’s photos.