By Omar Obeidat Jordan Times

AMMAN –– As economic sanctions against the Syrian regime are set to be broadened, experts stressed that Jordan has to carefully weigh its interests before joining the drive.

With the US and the European Union (EU) still working to put more pressure on Syria to end the violent crackdown on demonstrators through expanding sanctions, the Arab League on Saturday suspended Damascus and said it would impose economic and political sanctions against the Syrian government but did not disclose details or the mechanism of implementation.

On Sunday, US Treasury Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Daniel Glaser arrived in Amman to brief officials on the US and EU sanctions against Bashar Assad’s regime and discuss possible attempts by the Syrian government to evade the sanctions through the Jordanian banking sector, a US embassy statement said.

The statement, which was e-mailed to The Jordan Times, said Glaser was scheduled to meet with banking sector executives “to underscore the importance of Jordan’s continued efforts to maintain a transparent, sound and well regulated financial sector”.

Commenting on Glaser’s visit and on the way the local banking sector would respond to the sanctions, Marwan Awad, chairman of the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ), told The Jordan Times over the phone that banks in the Kingdom implement all regulations issued by the Central Bank of Jordan, adding that the central bank is committed to implementing decisions taken by the United Nations rather than individual countries.

ABJ Director General Adli Kandah said Glaser had not met with representatives of local banks by yesterday afternoon.

Economist Jawad Anani indicated that Jordan will find itself with no choice but to implement the sanctions against Syria because the Arab League decisions early this week included economic and political sanctions that are mandatory to member states, including Jordan, which voted for suspending Damascus’ membership in the group.

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