WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is expected to prohibit Syrian aircraft from flying into the United States under new sanctions over Damascus' suspected support for groups on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations, congressional sources said on Friday.
The most serious of the expected sanctions would curb future investments by U.S. energy companies in Syria, although existing projects would be allowed to proceed, the sources, who were briefed by the administration, said earlier.
President Bush is also expected either to block transactions involving the Syrian government or ban exports to Syria of U.S. products other than food and medicine, the sources said.
Under the flight restrictions, aircraft of any air carrier owned or controlled by Syria would be prohibited from taking off from, landing in, or flying over the United States. The move would be largely symbolic since Syrian planes do not now fly to the United States.
The White House declined to comment, but officials said an announcement was expected shortly after a series of high-level meetings this week.
The United States accuses Syria of sponsoring terrorist groups including Hamas and Hizbollah, occupying Lebanon and failing to secure its border with Iraq while allowing anti-American fighters to cross into the country.
"It's the beginning of a new policy toward Syria. We're basically saying, 'Enough is enough,"' said U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat.
Administration and congressional sources said Bush did not plan to impose diplomatic sanctions authorized under the Syria Accountability Act, which he signed into law in December despite initial objections.
The proposed penalties against Syria stand in stark contrast to the White House's decision to ease sanctions on Libya as a reward for scrapping its nuclear arms programs. Bush has seized on Libya's pledge to abandon weapons programs as an example for other countries, including Syria.
Syria says its support for the Palestinian and Lebanese groups it calls freedom fighters is merely political and their only activity in Syria is speaking to media.
Allegations from Washington during the Iraq war that Damascus was helping aides of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein flee raised concern in the Arab world that Syria could be the next target of what Washington calls its war on terror.
By Daniel Flynn
MADRID (Reuters) - Three Moroccans detained after the Madrid train bombings were accused in court of 190 murders on Friday, but they denied any links to al Qaeda and said they were asleep at the time of the attacks.
After a grueling seven-hour overnight hearing at Madrid's High Court, the three Moroccans were also accused of 1,400 attempted murders and of belonging to a terrorist group.
Two other suspects, both Indians, were accused of cooperating with a terrorist group, court sources said.
All five suspects, arrested two days after the March 11 rail bombings that killed 202 people and wounded more than 1,800, were ordered held in solitary confinement after a court hearing that finished at 4 a.m. (10 p.m. EST, Thursday).
The attacks on four commuter trains, the bloodiest linked to al Qaeda since the Bali bombings in 2002, have been claimed by a militant Islamic group aligning itself to al Qaeda. All five suspects denied involvement in the strikes.
One of the Moroccans seen as a main suspect -- Jamal Zougam -- wept in court before returning to pray in his cell, the sources said. Another, Mohamed Bekkali, shouted he was innocent.
"They have all said that when the attack took place on March 11 they were sleeping in their respective homes," a court source said. "They say they don't have any link with al Qaeda or any terrorist organization."
There was no immediate explanation for why they were accused of 190 murders. It may relate to the number of bodies identified.
The Madrid blasts sparked a security shake-up in Europe and beyond. European Union (news - web sites) ministers agreed at emergency talks on Friday to appoint an anti-terrorism coordinator and to boost intelligence-sharing.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the intelligence chiefs of Spain, France, Britain, Germany and Italy would meet in Madrid on Monday.
VALUABLE CLUES
Zougam, his half-brother Mohamed Chaoui and Bekkali were detained at a telephone shop run by Zougam in Madrid.
Investigators have said an unexploded bomb found on one of the trains, containing a mobile phone that would have been used to activate the bomb, provided valuable clues.
The Moroccans are also accused of four "terrorist acts," presumably one for each train bombed, and stealing a vehicle.
As well as cooperating with extremists, the two Indians, Suresh Kumar and Vinay Khohy, were accused of forging documents.
Five other people were arrested on Thursday as part of the probe. Rabat has identified three of those suspects as Moroccans, its state news agency MAP said late on Friday.
The suspects were named as Abderrahim Zbakh, 33, Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, 38, and Farid Oulad Ali, 34, MAP said.
Another suspect, who is suspected of stealing the locally made explosives, is Spanish. The nationality of the 10th suspect, who sources say is North African, is unknown.
An Algerian man was cleared on Friday of any links to the attack, High Court sources said.
Muslims at Madrid's oldest mosque where Zougam and Bekkali used to pray were shocked on Friday.
"They were normal guys, simple, straightforward," said Abdul, 51, referring to the two Moroccan suspects.
Investigators and judges are pursuing possible links between the Madrid attack and the May 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco, that killed 45 people.
Anger over the government's handling of the Madrid bombings contributed to the opposition Socialists' surprise win in Spain's general election last Sunday.