Damascus orders the seizure of the property of Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of Bashar al-Assad

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The standoff continues between the Syrian regime and the wealthy businessman Rami Makhlouf. Damascus ordered the seizure of the property of this cousin of Bashar al-Assad. The latter still refuses to pay the arrears claimed by the state and thus exposes the internal flaws in the clan which heads Syria.

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A document signed this Tuesday, May 19 by the Syrian Minister of Finance orders the "  preventive seizure  " of the property of the powerful businessman Rami Makhlouf as well as that of his wife and children.

The official purpose of this decision is to "  cover the amounts due to the regulatory authority for the Syrian telecom network  ". At the end of April, the boss of Syriatel, the first mobile operator in the country, refused to pay more than 160 million euros required by the authorities. A request “  unfair  ” according to Rami Makhlouf who denounced a sum imposed by a particular group “  without any right or recourse to the law  ”.

Last Sunday, in a third video in the space of a few weeks, the businessman accused Damascus of threatening to stop him and to shut down his telecommunications company if he did not pay the profits to it. 'State.

According to him, the regime simply wants to end its empire. Rami Makhlouf was, however, once considered an intimate friend of Bashar al-Assad, of whom he is the cousin. He has played a crucial role in funding the Syrian war effort since 2011. 

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• Syria
• Bashar al-Assad