By Daphne Psaledakis and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order paving the way for Washington to designate countries around the world a state sponsor of wrongful detention and impose punitive measures, including sanctions, on those it deems are wrongfully holding Americans.

Senior administration officials said the United States would target countries currently holding wrongfully detained Americans as well as those that engage in "hostage diplomacy," including China, Iran and Afghanistan, which one official said would be reviewed for designation.

A second senior administration official said the penalties imposed on countries will be similar to how the United States deploys the Foreign Terrorist Organization designations and include measures such as sanctions, export controls and barring those deemed associated with wrongful detentions from entering........

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