BEIRUT — During a visit this week to one of Beirut’s top hotels, Daraj reporters noticed a clear presence of several wealthy Syrians whose names are not yet known. It was evident that they were staying at the hotel with their families, including teenaged children. The adult men appeared tense, spending most of their time on their telephones in a state of apparent continuous communication.
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This came after the head of Syria’s largest commercial lobbying group announced the adoption of a free-market model in Syria, as part of a radical shift in the country’s economic policy after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian economy had long been considered socialist in name, but controlled by a few businessmen connected to the regime’s inner circle.
According to Bassel Al-Hamwi, head of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce Federation, the new system will rely on competition as one of the foundations of the free economy.
The state had long dominated all economic sectors of Syria. Resources were concentrated in the hands of a few businessmen tied to the Assad regime, such as Rami and Ihab Makhlouf, Samer and Amer Foz, Mohammed Hamsho, Ahmed Saber Hamsho, the Al-Qaterji family, in addition to Mudalal and Imad Khoury, among others.
This economic dominance exacerbated the social class gap and increased the suffering of the Syrian people during the war years.
News in Lebanon this week, including reports from Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper and LBCI television network, highlighted the presence of several former Syrian regime businessmen in Lebanon, specifically in hotels such as Mövenpick, Phoenicia, and others in the southern suburbs,
Regime’s wealth
Among the mentioned names are businessman Khaled Qaddour, a close associate of Maher al-Assad, a much feared figure and brother of the former dictator. Qaddour has been subject to U.S. sanctions for “knowingly providing financial, material, or technical support to Maher al-Assad, or knowingly participating in significant transactions with him,” according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Additionally, there was Mohammad Hamsho, also close to Maher al-Assad and listed under the U.S. Caesar Act sanctions in 2020. The U.S. Treasury Department stated that the Hamsho family “has interests in almost every sector of the Syrian economy, and Mohammad Hamsho acted as a front and close partner of Maher al-Assad, who commands the Fourth Division of the Syrian army.” It is worth noting that both Qaddour and Hamsho hold Lebanese residency.
Also among those seeking refuge in Lebanon, according to published reports, is Firas Issa Shaleesh, the nephew of Dhu al-Himma Shaleesh, involved in the massacres of Hama and Jisr al-Shughur during Hafez al-Assad’s time. Firas was a partner with his uncle in a telecommunications company established in 1998. Additionally, Rami Makhlouf’s mother, the wife of Bashar al-Assad’s maternal uncle, was noted.
Regime elite
Lebanon’s caretaker Minister of Interior, Bassam Mawlawi, dismissed these articles as “rumors,” and declared that “there are no Syrian security officials in Lebanon.”
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s statement was more vague, asserting the government’s commitment to Lebanese and international laws “in ways that ensure the interest of Lebanon, its people, and future relations with the Syrian people.”
Their names also appeared in the “Paradise Papers.”
He noted his close monitoring of the issue regarding the entry of former Syrian officials into the country, emphasizing that “the Lebanese government has always adhered to Lebanese and international laws, which it has followed throughout the past period, during which Lebanon received hundreds of thousands of Syrian brothers.”
Did Ali Mamlouk seek refuge in Lebanon?
It is worth recalling the vast business networks of regime-affiliated businessmen in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region, particularly the United Arab Emirates Previous investigations by Daraj and its partner SIRAJ, as part of the “Dubai Keys” project, revealed significant investments by “Syrian regime men” in Dubai despite U.S. sanctions. These include Rami and Ihab Makhlouf, the businessmen brothers Samer and Amer Foz, Rania Al-Dabbas, wife of Syrian businessman Mohammad Hamsho, and others.
Their names also appeared in the “Paradise Papers,” as revealed by a prior investigation by Daraj. Following the “Panama Papers” in 2016, which disclosed a “significant presence of Rami Makhlouf and other Syrian regime-affiliated businessmen through ownership of many companies in Lebanon, particularly those related to trade and offshore dealings,” according to the Daraj investigation.
Ali Mamlouk, who served as the national security advisor to Bashar al-Assad, was one of the prominent architects of the country’s security repression, according to U.S. Treasury Department sanctions against him. The Nidaa Al-Watan newspaper, citing security sources, reported that he had taken refuge in Beirut or the southern suburbs following the regime’s fall, while other sources denied his presence in Lebanon, asserting that he’d remained in Damascus.
Ali Mamlouk’s name has been linked to several prominent security cases, including the 2012 incident of smuggling explosives into Lebanon via former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, aimed at carrying out assassinations and bombings, including the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli.
This case sparked widespread controversy and led the Lebanese judiciary to issue prison sentences against Samaha for terrorism charges. The Lebanese military judiciary issued an absentee arrest warrant for Ali Mamlouk in 2013.
The Russia option
An investigation by the Financial Times in November 2019 revealed properties owned by Bashar al-Assad and his family in Moscow “in the heart of the luxury district housing the ‘City of Capitals’ complex, consisting of two towering skyscrapers, which were formerly the tallest in Europe before losing that title in 2012 to London’s Shard.”
The Makhlouf family purchased at least 20 apartments in Moscow worth million.
This complex includes no fewer than 18 luxury apartments purchased by Bashar al-Assad’s family to retain tens of millions of dollars outside Syria, according to the investigation. Members of the Makhlouf family purchased at least 20 apartments in Moscow worth million, “using a complex chain of companies and loan arrangements, showcasing Russia’s role as a primary protector of the Syrian regime. It also highlights the role of so-called ‘Assad money managers’ in helping the regime move funds beyond the reach of Western sanctions.”
The investigation also revealed how they utilized loan structures involving Lebanese offshore companies that now officially own the properties, according to a report by the anti-corruption group Global Witness, shared with the Financial Times.
This reality begs the question: Will the former regime’s businessmen follow their leader and seek refuge in Moscow?
