The Syrian security services released dozens of employees of the companies of businessman Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of President Bashar al-Assad, as well as officers and elements who were cooperating with his armed groups, according to the French Press Agency quoted by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory said that most of those arrested by the security services were those working in Makhlouf institutions, among them 41 employees of "Syriatel" and 57 who worked in the humanitarian "Al Bustan Association" that he headed.
He added that 58 officers and members of the regime forces who were cooperating with his armed groups were also released.
A former Syriatel employee confirmed to the French press - who requested anonymity - that "a number of employees and managers have been released," noting that he personally knows 4 of them.
Makhlouf, 51, is locked in a struggle with the regime’s apparatus whose features began to loom in the summer of 2019, and he appealed to al-Assad to intervene to stop what he describes as “injustice” he is being subjected to by the authorities, which he said are seeking to overthrow him, after they asked him to pay sums owed to the telecommunications regulatory body And mail on his company.
A few months ago, the Syrian businessman accused the security services of arresting his employees to pressure him to give up his companies, most notably Syriatel, which owns about 70% of the telecommunications market in the country.