| Syrian and U.S. officials held talks in Washington on threatened sanctions against the Commercial Bank of Syria over allegations of financing terrorism, the official news agency SANA reported on Sunday. It said the talks Saturday involving Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed al-Hussein and U.S. Treasury officials were a follow-up to consultations held last month in Damascus and that the last outstanding issues were resolved. Dureid Dargham, director of the state-owned bank, also took part in the talks in Washington and said that he hoped for greater cooperation between the two sides "rather than a futile confrontation." The United States has raised concerns over the alleged involvement of the Syrian bank in money-laundering operations and the financing of terrorism, threatening sanctions under the U.S. Patriot Act passed after the Sept. 11. 2001, attacks. |