EFLThe United States acted Wednesday to financially clamp down on Syria's military intelligence chief, Assef Shawkat. The Treasury Department ordered US banks to block any assets found in the United States belonging to Shawkat. Americans also are barred from doing business with him. The department alleged that Shawkat has played a role in furthering Syria's "support for terrorism and interference in the sovereignty of Lebanon."
It marked the United States' latest action to turn up the heat on Syria. In June, the department moved to block the assets of Syria's interior minister, Ghazi Kanaan, and its chief of military intelligence for Lebanon, Rustum Ghazali. The power for the department to take the action stems from a May, 11, 2004, executive order by President George W. Bush.