For the first time in 50 years in Syria ... a family struggle to destroy the power between Assad and Makhlouf

Fifty years ago, the Assad family that governed Syria was not as torn as it is today, after the conflict between President Bashar al-Assad and his cousin Rami Makhlouf erupted on social media, unlike the rule to mute disputes within the family.

With this summary, the French newspaper Le Monde inaugurated an article written by veteran journalist and its correspondent in Beirut, Benjamin Barth, in which he said that the confrontation between the regime’s founder, Hafez al-Assad and his brother, was lifted in 1984, and if it was not far from going out to the street, the official press did not write a word about it, so as not to spoil The delusion of an idealized hierarchical system united in its obedience to the master of Damascus.

But this taboo - as the author says - was broken in recent days by posting a video clip on Facebook addressing Rami Makhlouf, the wealthiest businessman in Syria, his cousin, Bashar al-Assad, who is similarly descended from the Alevi minority.

In the first clip, which was broadcast on the Internet on Thursday, April 30th, the communications mogul who opponents of the regime appeared as a symbol of corruption is pleading with the head of state to reschedule the $ 178 million in tax arrears that a group is demanding to pay, he said.

In the second clip, released on May 3, Makhlouf, 50, who largely financed the suppression of the 2011 revolution against Assad, denounced the pressure on his company, Siriatel, which is on the mobile phone market, especially the arrest of employees.

"Can anyone imagine that the security services are attacking the companies of Rami Makhlouf, who was the largest supporter and sponsor of these services during the war?", Makhlouf said, adding, in a similar vein to the threat, "If we continue along this path, the situation in the country will become very difficult."

Funny crying

The writer said that such lamentation, on the part of a man like Rami Makhlouf who cut half of the country's economy, is quite funny as the authorities ’trial is ridiculous, as it reduced the state’s share of the profits of the Syriatel in 2014 from 60% to 20%.

He considered that the dispute between the two former partners could be evidence of reshaping the Syrian economic scene after nine years of civil war that saw the country's gross domestic product drop from sixty billion dollars in 2010 to 17 billion today.

The writer quotes Joseph Daher, a Syrian-Swiss political expert and researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, that "the money deducted annually from the government has declined dramatically." Thus, "Assad and his wife Asma and his brother Maher seek to focus the little wealth remaining in their hands and the hands of the businessmen associated with them," The small family no longer wants to rely on Makhlouf, who intends to reduce his independence and subordinate him to the presidency. "

The writer said that the first indications of the disagreement between Assad and Makhlouf appeared in August 2019, and at that time rumors started talking about Makhlouf's arrest at home and the seizure of part of his property, after the shock caused by the pictures his sons posted on the communication platforms.

Thus - the writer adds - he found the first beneficiary of the privatization operations that Bashar al-Assad decided upon when he came to power in 2000, accusing him of tax evasion.

Although Makhlouf's condition of house arrest has not been established, the Ministry of Finance froze his assets in December 2019 formally, in a procedure that included Ayman Jaber, a specialist in hydrocarbons, Tarif Al-Akhras, champion of the food industry, and Samer Al-Debs, head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Damascus.

In this context, "MTN", the second largest mobile phone network, was placed under the tutelage of one of Asma's close associates, and a similar fate might be awaiting Syriatel, either nationalization or the seizure of capital, the writer says.

The style of the Ritz-Carlton

The writer quotes an Alawite businessman traveling between Damascus and Beirut as saying that "Bashar al-Assad wants to get his money back", in a process "inspired by the operation of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel," in reference to the process that allowed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to control, in the winter of 2018, over Origins of hundreds of prestigious personalities in the Kingdom, including members of the royal family.

As is the case in Saudi Arabia when Bin Salman took advantage of the matter to neutralize competitors, the Assad maneuver took place due to economic necessities in addition to personal accounts.

"The lines in front of the bakeries are getting longer," said Ayman Abdel Nour, director of a pro-opposition news website. "The government needs money to buy wheat from the Russians, and Asma al-Assad also wants to secure the future of her children."

The writer explained that the campaign was conducted selectively, and many of those who benefited from the war who were perceived as corrupt, such as Samer Fawz, the owner of the Four Seasons Hotel, the finest hotel in Damascus, escaped.

Of all the businessmen questioned by the government, Rami Makhlouf was the only one who dared defend himself publicly, for his family stature, because "anyone else could have been eliminated within an hour."

And by posting on Facebook, the author believes that Makhlouf seeks to benefit from the support he enjoys among Alawites, who are the main beneficiaries of the aid distributed by his charitable organization, Al-Bustan.

Joseph Daher believes that "unlike Rifaat al-Assad, Makhlouf has no tanks and no intention to overthrow Bashar al-Assad, but he has influence and contacts with some of the security services and hired militias that could create instability with them, which may push his cousin to find a settlement with him, especially since Figures from the Alawite community fear that the minority will suffer from this crisis, and mediation has already begun between them.