US Senate votes to approve sanctions on Syria

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 12, 2003

US Senate votes to approve sanctions on Syria

The US Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill imposing sanctions on Syria, paving the way for the Congress to send the bill to President George W. Bush for signing.

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The US Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to approve a bill imposing sanctions on Syria, paving the way for the Congress to send the bill to President George W. Bush for signing.

The Senate passed the Syria accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Act with 398 for and 4 against. The House of Representatives approved a similar bill on Oct. 15.

The bill, designed to punish Damascus for its alleged ties with terrorist groups and efforts to seek weapons of mass destruction, bans any transfer of "duel-use" technology to Syria.

It also recommends a range of other options for President Bush to choose at his discretion. The options include measures to restrict US exports to Syria or US business investment in the country, to freeze Syria's assets in the United States, and to impose travel restrictions on Syrian diplomats posted in New York and Washington, D.C.

The Congress began the legislative process on the sanctions bill shortly after the Bush administration announced last month that it had dropped opposition to such a bill.

The administration accused Damascus of failing to address US concerns on Syria's alleged weapons of mass destruction programs and its close ties with terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

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