Syria says sanctions have cost country $4 billion
Syria's oil minister blamed international sanctions Wednesday for shortages of cooking gas and other basic goods, saying the measures have bled $4 billion from the nation's ailing economy.
Sufian Allaw said the punitive measures were to blame for the shortages that have left Syrians across the country standing in long lines to pay inflated prices for cooking gas, fuel, sugar and other staples.
The U.S. ambassador to Damascus denied that the international sanctions are to blame for the shortages facing Syrians. "Our sanctions purposefully do not target oil and diesel imports, because we know that the Syrian people need both for their day-to-day lives," Ambassador Robert Ford wrote on the embassy's Facebook page.
Ford said the government is using fuel imports for its tanks. "If the Assad regime decided to cut its military expenditures, more diesel and oil would be available for the Syrian people to use," he said.
http://www.ajc.com/business/syria-says-sanctions-have-1444331.html
