WASHINGTON. Apr 3: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has decided to impose sanctions on three Russian firms involved in the sale of anti-tank guided missiles to Syria, the State Department said Friday, reports AP.

The sanctions involve a ban on purchases from and exports to the three firms and also suspends US assistance to them. The amount of the assistance was not disclosed.

State Department spokesman James P Rubin said Albright could have cut up to 90 million dollars in assistance to the Russian government but decided not to do so because she believed it would not serve US national interests.

The law applicable to such cases is invoked when sales of lethal equipment are made to countries on the State Department's terrorism list. Syria is one of seven countries on the list.

The three firms are the Tula Design Bureau, the Volsk Mechanical Plant and the Tsni-itochmash plant.

The measures will remain in place until one year after the transfers have ceased or until the secretary determines that it is important to US interests to waive them, Rubin said.