U.S. Lays Sanctions on Syria

Assets frozen as Obama prepares to deliver a speech addressing upheaval in the Middle East.

U.S. President Barack Obama has slapped a new round of sanctions on Syria's Ba'athist regime on the day before he's to give a speech outlining his administration's foreign policy in the Middle East. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six of his closest advisers, and makes it illegal for Americans to do business with them. Previously, Obama had only frozen the assets of the head of the Syrian intelligence agency and two of Assad's relatives. The measures are aimed at getting Assad to curb his two-month-long crackdown that has killed at least 700 activists calling for his ouster.