Syria tycoon lashes out at state in fresh accusations

DAMASCUS: Top Syria tycoon Rami Makhlouf on Sunday said the regime was piling pressure on him and threatening to arrest him and close his telecommunications empire unless he hands over profits.

Makhlouf, a first cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, made the latest accusations against the Damascus government — the third since April — in a 16-minute Facebook video.The head of Syria´s largest mobile operator, Syriatel, has been embroiled in a power struggle with the Assad government since last summer when authorities seized his Al-Bustan charity and dissolved militias affiliated to him.

When the finance ministry in December froze the assets of several businessmen over tax evasion and illicit enrichment, the Syrian press said Makhlouf, his wife and companies were included.

On Sunday he said authorities are “demanding we forefeit our company´s profits” and hand over “120 percent of the profits to the state or else we will be arrested”.Failure to comply, he said, will prompt authorities to revoke Syriatel´s licence.

At the end of April and again in early May, Makhlouf, who had kept a low profile throughout Syria´s nine-year-war, posted online scathing attacks against authorities.He said they were demanding $185 million in payments from Syriatel, urging Assad to intervene and reschedule the payment.Makhlouf, who also has stakes in electricity, oil and real estate, has also accused security services of detaining employees to intimidate him into stepping down from his businesses.