( dpa ) - The United States on Thursday enacted sanctions on four individuals in Syria accused of supplying al-Qaeda in Iraq weapons and money.
The US Treasury Department sanctions against the private Syrians marks the latest effort by Washington to pressure Damascus over concerns the country serves as a staging point for destabilizing Iraq.
" Syria remains the primary point for foreign fighters to transfer into Iraq," US State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said. "And we think the Syrian government has a lot more that it can do to deal with this issue."
The order freezes any assets or property in the United States belonging to the four men and bans American citizens from doing business with them.
The Treasury Department identified the four as Badran Turki al- Hishan al-Mazidih, Ghazy Fezza Hishan al-Mazidih, Turki Hishan al- Mazidih and Saddah Jaylut al-Marsumi.