Coordinator of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s (SOC) Caesar Act Follow-up Team, Abdul Majeed Barakat, said that the Lebanese Hezbollah militia have not stopped sending supplies on the Caesar Act sanctions list into Syria.
Barakat pointed out that the Hezbollah militia continues to send weapons, ammunition and logistical supplies to the Assad regime through the official border crossings between Syria and Lebanon and unofficial crossings in Western Qalamoun region.
Barakat made it clear that the Hezbollah militia and the Assad regime begun using unofficial crossing points in Western Qalamoun after the Caesar Act took effect. He added that these supplies are being transported in trucks that are usually used to transport food and medical supplies which are excluded from the Caesar Act sanctions, stressing that these trucks carry weapons, ammunition and fuel.
Moreover, Barakat said that the Caesar Law Follow-up Team notified the US administration of these violations of the Caesar Act, adding that the Team provided the US officials with a map of the network of the mountain roads that Hezbollah militia is using to ship sanctioned supplies to Syria.
“We confirmed to the US officials that the Assad regime is using Lebanon as a means to dodge sanctions. We demanded adding Lebanese individuals close to Hezbollah and the Assad regime to the list of sanctions. The US responded by adding two individuals who were involved in money transfer and money laundering for the Assad regime to the latest list of sanctions.”
He stressed that the latest list hurt the Hezbollah militia which began to feel that the Caesar Act is striking the inner circles of the regime and Hezbollah. The sanctions exclude items that are indispensable to the livelihood of civilians. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
