Syria: Radwan Ziadeh’s Brother Arrested; More Sanctions

Yassein Ziadeh, the brother of Radwan Ziadeh who heads the Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies and is a visiting scholar at George Washington University, has been arrested by the “notorious” Syrian Air Force security forces. Yassein Ziadeh, who is 37 and married with children, was arrested after morning prayers at the Mustafa Mosque in Daraya, 10km south-west of Damascus. Radwan Ziadeh said, “we are all concerned Yassein will be tortured because of my activities. He’s not political at all and has never been on a protest. But I am concerned that they will use him to put some pressure on me.” Radwan was part of a group of Syrian human rights activists who met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in early August to discuss the situation in Syria.

Also today, the U.S. Treasury Department froze the assets of and banned business transactions with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, Presidential and Media Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban, and Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Aliand. David Cohen, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said “building on our sanctions targeting the entire Government of Syria, we are bringing additional pressure to bear today directly on three senior Asad regime officials who are principal defenders of the regime’s activities.” This ban prohibits any U.S. citizen from doing business with these individuals.