Syria civil war: UK imposes sanctions on key Assad allies after ‘decade of brutality’

Six key figures hit with sanctions over regime’s ‘wholesale assault’ on Syrian people

Syrian president Bashar Assad (AFP via Getty Images)

The UK has imposed sanctions on six allies of Syria’s ruler Bashar Assad a decade after the country’s brutal civil war began.

The asset freezes and travel bans are a response to the Assad regime’s “wholesale assault” on the Syrian people, foreign secretary Dominic Raab said, as the country marks 10 years of conflict.

“The Assad regime has subjected the Syrian people to a decade of brutality for the temerity of demanding peaceful reform,” said Mr Raab. “Today, we are holding six more individuals from the regime to account for their wholesale assault on the very citizens they should be protecting.”

Those sanctioned include foreign minister Faisal Miqdad, presidential adviser Luna al-Shibl, and financier Yassar Ibrahim – who the Foreign Office claimed acts as a front for Assad’s hold on the Syrian economy.

Businessman Muhammad Bara’ al-Qatirji and military officers major general Malik Aliaa and major general Zaid Salah will also be hit by the asset freezes and travel bans.

It marks the first measures taken in relation to Syria under the UK’s new, autonomous sanctions regime, which came into force following the end of the Brexit transition period. 

The British government has joined allies in the UN Security Council in pushing the regime to engage in peace talks in Geneva and release those held in arbitrary detention.

Monday marks the 10th anniversary of the peaceful protests against Assad’s government, which erupted in March 2011 and touched off a popular uprising that quickly turned into a full-blown civil war.

Despite a decade of fighting and a broken country, Assad remains firmly in power, having been propped up by Russia and Iran.

Syria is economically devastated and divided. An al-Qaida-linked group dominates the northwestern Idlib province, with Turkey-backed rebels controlling small stretches along the Turkish border.

US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces hold around a quarter of the country in the north-east, while the Assad regime controls the rest.

US military convoy in north-eastern Syria in 2019, next to Assad poster (AP)

The conflict has killed around half a million people and displaced half of Syria’s pre-war population of 23 million, including more than five million who are refugees, mostly in neighbouring countries.

With Assad preparing to run for a fourth seven-year presidential term in the spring, some have questioned whether he can survive the sharp economic deterioration and anger in areas under his control.

Poverty levels are now worse than at any point throughout the 10-year conflict. Long queues for petrol stations and quotas of two packs of bread a day for families show how the country is struggling for basics.