US Lawmakers Urge Blinken to Implement ‘Caesar Act’ Decisively

FILE PHOTO: The US Capitol building in Washington, US, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
FILE PHOTO: The US Capitol building in Washington, US, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
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US Lawmakers Urge Blinken to Implement ‘Caesar Act’ Decisively

FILE PHOTO: The US Capitol building in Washington, US, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
FILE PHOTO: The US Capitol building in Washington, US, December 4, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Legislators in Washington are fiercely demanding the Syria crisis is brought into the spotlight and placed high on the list of priorities run by the Biden administration.

While Republicans are openly attacking US President Joe Biden over his failure in implementing the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act--a piece of legislation that sanctions the Syrian government for committing war crimes, Democrats are criticizing Biden behind closed doors.

However, the scene started gradually shifting as international efforts to normalize ties with the Syrian regime build up traction.

Democrats joined the Republicans in writing a letter to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urging him to strictly address these international efforts and implement UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

Both parties wrote on the need for a “conclusive” and “strict” implementation of the sanctions under the Caesar Act.

Although the letter was seemingly rushed, prominent Democratic leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives co-signing indicate that their patience is running out with the Biden administration.

It ushers in more pressure on the Democratic administration holding accountable all those who violate the provisions of the legislation, which was approved in Congress with broad bipartisan consensus.

Lawmakers insist that a settlement for the Syria crisis does not include Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power.

They urged Blinken to redouble efforts for countering the international drive towards normalization of ties with the Assad regime, along with the “strict and resolute implementation of the Caesar Civilian Protection Act.”

Moreover, the legislators ruled out any possibility of doing business normally and naturally while a murderous regime remains in power.

Members of Congress also sought to shed more light on Russia’s role in Syria, accusing it of deliberately seeking to encourage the international community to rehabilitate and accept the Assad regime to secure its strategic presence in the country and the region.

They also warned against the Kremlin’s efforts to unlock financing opportunities for Syria’s reconstruction, saying that the move would consolidate Assad remaining in the war-torn country’s top office.



Libya Receives Invitation from Greece to Maritime Zone Talks to Ease Strained Ties

Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
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Libya Receives Invitation from Greece to Maritime Zone Talks to Ease Strained Ties

Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo
Children play by the tents, as recently arrived migrants shelter at the temporary migrants' camp staged on a soccer pitch in the region of Rethymno in Crete island, Greece, June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Stefanos Rapanis/File Photo

Greece has invited Libya's internationally recognized government in Tripoli to start talks on demarcating exclusive economic zones in the Mediterranean Sea, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said late on Wednesday.

The move is aimed at mending relations between the two neighbors, strained by a controversial maritime deal signed in 2019 between the Libyan government and Türkiye, Greece's long-standing foe, which mapped out a sea area close to the Greek island of Crete.

"We invite - and I think you may soon see progress in this area - we invite the Tripoli government to discuss with Greece the delimitation of a continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone," Mitsotakis told local Skai television, Reuters reported.

Greece this year launched a new tender to develop its hydrocarbon resources off Crete, a move that Libya has objected to, saying some of the blocks infringed its own maritime zones.

Law and order has been weak in Libya since a 2011 uprising that toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi, with the country divided by factional conflict into eastern and western sections for over a decade.

Therefore, any communication with Libya was not easy, Mitsotakis said. He indicated that Greece was determined to continue talking to both the Tripoli-based government and a parallel administration based in Benghazi.

In recent months, Athens has sought closer cooperation with Libya to help stem a surge in migrant arrivals from the North African country to Greece's southern islands of Gavdos and Crete and passed legislation banning migrants arriving from Libya by sea from requesting asylum.

In an incident earlier this month, the European Union migration commissioner and ministers from Italy, Malta and Greece were denied entry to the eastern part of divided Libya, shortly after meeting the internationally recognized government that controls the west of Libya.