EU Freezes Assets of Two Firms Accused of Supplying Oil to Syria

The European Union on Wednesday froze the assets of two oil- trading firms accused of organizing covert shipments of oil to Syria.

They were among nine organizations and three people added to the EU's Syria sanctions list, published in the bloc's Official Journal. Also listed were branches of the Syrian Defence Ministry.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been blacklisted by Western powers for its role in the country's three-year civil war, which has killed at least 150,000 people, according to one monitoring group.

The two oil-trading firms were Beirut-based Oceans Petroleum Trading, also called Overseas Petroleum Trading or Overseas Petroleum Co., and Tri Oceans Trading, an Egyptian firm. Their assets in the 28-nation EU will be frozen.

Both are accused of "providing support to the Syrian regime and benefiting from the regime by organizing covert shipments of oil to the Syrian regime," the Official Journal said.

Reuters reported last December that the Syrian government was getting substantial imports of Iraqi crude oil from an Egyptian port. Such under-the-radar trading has kept Assad's military running despite the Western sanctions.

Damascus relies heavily on strategic ally Iran as its main supplier of crude oil. But Reuters' examination of the documents showed that millions of barrels of crude delivered to Assad's government on Iranian ships has actually come from Iraq, through Lebanese and Egyptian trading companies.


Arranging Shipments?
According to documents seen by Reuters last December, Overseas Petroleum Trading invoiced Syria for arranging at least two shipments and was involved in a third. Cairo-based Tri-Ocean Energy was responsible for loading Iraqi oil into at least one. Both firms denied any involvement in the Syria trade last December.

State-owned Syrian refining companies put on the list were Baniyas Refinery Co and the Homs Refinery Co. The EU accuses them of providing financial support to the government.

Hashim Anwar al-Aqqad, a Syrian businessman and chairman of the Akkad Group of companies, was added to the list as well. The group operate in various sectors, including oil and gas. Aqqad is alleged to have provided support to and to benefited from the Syrian government.

Also added were a military commander, Colonel Suhayl Hasan, and Amr Armanazi, the head of a Syrian scientific centre, which the EU said had helped the Syrian army acquire equipment used for "surveillance and repression of demonstrators". They are also banned from entering the EU.

The new listings bring to 192 the number of people sanctioned by the EU and to 62 the number of organizations.

(By Adrian Croft, Additional reporting by Julia Payne and David Sheppard in London; Editing by Larry King)