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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/21/AR2008022102839.html
Sanctions on Businessman Target Syria's Inner Sanctum
[Washington Post] Robin Wright - The Bush administration Thursday froze the U.S. assets and restricted the financial transactions of Syrian businessman Rami Makhluf, a cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a powerful behind-the-scenes middle man for the Syrian government, in a move targeting the political and economic inner sanctum in Damascus. "Once you hit Rami Makhluf, you're at war with Syria," said Joshua M. Landis, a former Fulbright scholar in Syria. "When you sanction Rami Makhluf, you're also sanctioning all the people who deal with him, including the wealthiest and most powerful people in the country." Makhluf is a top player in Syria's telecommunications, commercial, energy and banking sectors, said Matthew Levitt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.