Donald Trump's administration announced on Thursday it would impose sanctions on four individuals and five entities — two of which are based in the UAE — for supplying weapons and fuel to Assad's regime in Syria.
The State Department said it had sanctioned Syrian nationals Yasir ‘Abas, Adnan Al-Ali and Muhammad al-Qatirji, as well as Lebanese national Fadi Nasser, for facilitating the transfers. Sanctions were also imposed on the following entities:
1. Al Qatirji Company, based in Syria
2. Nasco Polymers and Chemicals, based in Lebanon
3. Abar Petroleum Service SAL, based in Lebanon
4. International Pipeline Construction FZE, based in the United Arab Emirates
5. Sonex Investments Ltd., based in the United Arab Emirates.
“As a result of today’s announcement, all of these individuals’ and entities’ assets within US jurisdiction are blocked, and US individuals and entities are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.
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She added that the “United States will continue to take concrete and forceful action to cut off material support to the Assad regime and its supporters.” In the statement she also accused the Assad regime of having “systematically arrested, tortured, and murdered tens of thousands of Syrian civilians in response to their legitimate and nonviolent calls for their freedom, rights, and political reforms.”
Providing information on the targets of the new sanctions, the Treasury Department said that the Syria-based Al Qatirji Company had shipped "weapons from Iraq to Syria.”
Mr Qatirji maintained "strong ties to the Syrian regime and facilitates fuel trade between the regime and ISIS, including providing oil products to ISIS-controlled territory,” the statement said.
Another Syrian national, Mr Abas, provided "oil and weapons imports on behalf of the Syrian regime, including involvement in the shipment of goods and military equipment from Iran to Syria on behalf of the Syrian Air Force.”
The Lebanese Mr Nasser facilitated the transfer of "financial, material, or technological support to the Syrian Company or Oil Transport” while acting on behalf of Nasco Polymers.
He also allegedly arranged the “delivery of thousands of tons of fuel to Syrian ports" and received millions of dollars in exchange.
The US Treasury said the Lebanese company Abar Petroleum evaded sanctions by importing crude oil and petroleum products into Syrian ports. “It brokered over $30 million of shipments of petroleum products to Baniyas, Syria, including gasoline, gasoil, and liquefied petroleum gas,” the statement said.
Nasco Polymers and UAE-based Sonex Investments "were designated for facilitating shipments to Syrian ports by serving as consignees and chartering the vessels.”
UAE-based Sonex Investments “acted as a buyer, consignee, or charterer for shipments of crude oil and petroleum products discharged at Baniyas, Syria." The statement makes reference to a shipment of over 90,000 metric tons of fuel oil delivered in May 2017 and another shipment of over 43,000 metric tons of crude oil in November 2017.
IPC, also based in UAE, was designated for being owned or controlled by Hesco Engineering. “Hesco Engineering is owned by George Haswani, one of the Syrian regime’s middlemen for dealings between the Government of Syria and ISIS”, the US Treasury said. IPC allegedly "facilitated payments originating in Syria."
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
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16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
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C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
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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
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
