Kicking Assad

President Bush has dropped the economic hammer on Syria for the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri early last year.

Via al-Reuters:

President George W. Bush on Wednesday issued an order blocking the assets of anyone connected with the February 14, 2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Bush in a statement said the new order blocks the property and interests of anyone determined to have been involved in Hariri's assassination and that additional steps were being taken "concerning certain actions of the government of Syria."

A U.N. report last year implicated senior Syrian security officials in Hariri's killing and said Syria was impeding the inquiry. Syria has denied involvement.

Bush's order does not designate anyone specifically, but establishes the criteria for who would fall under the order.

In addition to blocking the assets of anyone found to be involved in Hariri's assassination, the order targets anyone involved in an assassination or bombing in Lebanon since October 1, 2004, related to Hariri's killing or implicating the Syrian government, an administration official said.

Iran has garnered most of the media's attention lately due to its nuclear ambitions, but the President has not forgotten Bashir Assad's murderous regime. These sanctions should bring pressure to bear on the Syria-Iran alliance, and it will be very interesting to watch to see if this pressure destabilizes Bashir Assad's already tenuous grip on power.

The full text of the Executive Order is available here.