Syria Says Sanctions Are ‘Economic War’ as UN Reports Abuses

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem called the Arab League’s sanctions against his country a declaration of “economic war” as a United Nations human-rights panel said Syrian forces had committed crimes against humanity.

The unprecedented measures adopted by the bloc Nov. 27, including a freeze on Syrian assets and a travel ban on senior officials in President Bashar al-Assad’s government, will have no impact on day-to-day life, though they may affect some luxury goods, Muallem told reporters yesterday in Damascus. Iraq and Lebanon, two of Syria’s largest trading partners, and Jordan probably won’t implement the sanctions, he said.