US President George W. Bush signed an order on Tuesday imposing sanctions on Syria to punish Damascus for allegedly supporting terrorism and failing to block infiltration of guerillas into Iraq, agencies reports said.  

The sanctions reportedly include a ban on all US exports to Syria except for food and medicine, a ban on flights to and from the United States, authorization to the US Treasury Department to freeze assets of certain Syrian nationals and entities, and restrictions on banking relations between the two countries.

The sanctions were imposed under the so-called Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, which Bush signed into law last December.

The act, pushed by US Congress, bans any transfer of "duel-use" technology to Syria and provides President Bush with a list of six other sanctions from which he is obliged to select at least two.

The options include a comprehensive ban on exports to Syria, prohibition of US investment in the country, a freeze on Syria's assets in the United States, limits on Syrian airline flights in the United States, a reduction on diplomatic contacts with Syria, and travel restrictions on Syrian diplomats in New York and Washington D.C.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2004)