EU imposes sanctions on 12 Syrian ministers

The EU Tuesday added 16 Syrian persons and two entities into its sanctions list.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council late on Monday decided to reinforce sanctions against the Syrian regime due to the Assad regime’s brutal war against its own people.

The names includes 12 ministers, two military officers, two oil businessmen and two energy companies and was published in the EU Official Journal today.

The individuals face travel bans and the entities face asset freezes in the EU.

The updated list brings the total number of Syrians under EU sanctions to 211 and the number of entities to 63.

The ministers included in the blacklist are: Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade Houmam Jaza’iri; Minister of Higher Education Mohamad Amer Mardini; Minister of Communications and Technology Mohamad Ghazi Jalali; Minister of Water Resources Kamal Cheikha; Minister of Administrative Development Hassan Nouri; Minister of Labour Khalaf Souleymane Abdallah; Minister of Health Nizar Wahbeh Yazaji; Minister of Internal Trade Hassan Safiyeh; Minister of Culture Issam Khalil; State Minister Mohammad Mouti’ Mouayyad and Minister of Transport Ghazwan Kheir Bek.

The list also includes commander of the 155 Missile Brigade Major General Ghassan Ahmed Ghannan; senior officer in the Air Force Intelligence Colonel Mohammed Bilal; Vice President of Finance and Administration at Tri-Ocean Energy Mohamed Farahat and Chairman of Overseas Petroleum Trading Company Abdelhamid Khamis Abdullah.

The two companies are Pangates International Corp. Ltd., based at Sharjah Airport International Free Zone, United Arab Emirates. The EU statement said Pangates acts as an intermediary in the supply of oil to the Syrian regime.

The other firm is Abdulkarim Group based in Damascus, a parent company of Pangates.