Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, right, receives a delegation representing various Arab governments in Damascus in February this year. AP
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, right, receives a delegation representing various Arab governments in Damascus in February this year. AP
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, right, receives a delegation representing various Arab governments in Damascus in February this year. AP
Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, right, receives a delegation representing various Arab governments in Damascus in February this year. AP

Congress introduces Assad Anti-Normalisation Act following Arab League's Syria decision


Ellie Sennett
  • English
  • Arabic

A bipartisan group in the US House of Representatives on Thursday introduced a bill that would codify Washington's opposition to normalising relations with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

The legislation was introduced on the heels of the Arab League's decision to reintegrate Syria into the bloc.

The Assad Anti-Normalisation Act would prohibit the US from “recognising or normalising relations with any government of Syria that is led by Bashar Al Assad”.

Joe Wilson, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, spearheaded the bill after the Arab League formally readmitted Syria to the body, in a further sign of the region's softening stance towards Damascus.

“The Assad regime is illegitimate and poses a threat to peace and prosperity in the region,” Mr Wilson said in a statement announcing the bill.

“Support for a free and democratic Syria remains strong and I am grateful to introduce this bipartisan legislation to hold the Assad regime accountable for its crimes.”

Aboul Gheit, Secretary General of the Arab League, told The National this week that Syria's readmission was a “step in a process” of normalising ties and “not the end of the journey”.

The bill moves to expand the Caesar Act, which issued a tough round of sanctions on the Assad regime, to include those providing support to the Syrian People’s Assembly and the Baath Party.

Mohammed Alaa Ghanem — policy chief at the Syria American Council, an organisation that has endorsed the bill — told The National this development is particularly significant.

“Usually [the Syrians facing sanctions] are fat cats, businessmen or security officials who change hats, put on a suit and tie, and become members,” he told The National.

“So this sends a very chilling message — if you're working for Bashar Al Assad, aiding and abetting the crimes in Syria, you're going to be targeted.”

The proposed Caesar Act expansion would also block Washington's approval of the US-backed Arab Gas Pipeline through a provision that expands sanctions to include “significant transactions” involving natural gas, electricity or other energy-related transactions.

It would also require an inter-agency strategy and annual report to Congress to counter the normalisation of relations with the Assad regime.

Mr Ghanem added that he is excited about a provision that “would protect the housing and property rights of refugees, because it would target anyone that engages in the seizure and misappropriation of assets … of Syrians, including real estate”.

“As someone who owns, or owned property in Syria, the regime seized my properties … so that's something very, very good,” Mr Ghanem said.

“This bill will pressure the Assad regime to account for its mass murder and other war crimes including chemical weapons,” former ambassador and special representative to Syria James Jeffrey said in a statement.

It will also “advance the fight against ISIS, support the return of refugees and internally displaced people, and block a geostrategic triumph by Assad, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the IRGC [Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” he added.

President Joe Biden's administration has maintained a broad policy against normalising relations with the regime.

Following the Arab League's decision, Mr Biden on Monday announced the continuation of an executive order that declared a US national emergency with respect to Syria.

“The regime's brutality and repression of the Syrian people, who have called for freedom and a representative government, not only endangers the Syrian people themselves, but also generates instability throughout the region,” Mr Biden wrote in a letter to Congress.

But after Jordan-hosted talks with Arab foreign ministers in anticipation of Syria's return to the Arab League, the White House told The National it was “encouraged to see the joint communique mention many priorities that we and our partners share”.

That comment followed senior administration official Barbara Leaf taking a softer tone on normalisation as well.

“Our approach on that score is that make sure to get something for that engagement,” she said in late March.

Mr Ghanem acknowledged that getting the sweeping new bill through Congress and signed into law is “not going to be a walk in the park”, but he expressed cautious optimism.

“There were moments in time when we thought that [the Caesar Act] wasn't going to pass, and then it passed. So we're hopeful,” he said.

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

SERIE A FIXTURES

Saturday

AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)

Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)

Benevento v Parma (5pm)

Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)

Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)

Lazio v Spezia (5pm)

Napoli v Crotone (5pm)

Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)

Torino v Juventus (8pm)

Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)

F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Mountain%20Boy
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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

'Worse than a prison sentence'

Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.

“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.

“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.

“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.

“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.

“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 325bhp

Torque: 450Nm

Price: Dh359,000

On sale: now 

 


 

At a glance

Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free

Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland

UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan

Medicus AI

Started: 2016

Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh

Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai

Sector: Health Tech

Staff: 119

Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)

 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

RESULTS

6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

Winner RB Money To Burn, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer).

7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m

Winner Ekhtiyaar, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m

Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.

8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

Winner Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Kimbear, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m

Winner Platinum Star, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.

10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

Winner Key Victory, James Doyle, Charlie Appleby.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Global state-owned investor ranking by size

1.

United States

2.

China

3.

UAE

4.

Japan

5

Norway

6.

Canada

7.

Singapore

8.

Australia

9.

Saudi Arabia

10.

South Korea

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK 

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Updated: May 11, 2023, 5:19 PM`