Iraqi Security Official Denies Presence of Baghdadi’s Successor in Iraq
Arab World
Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat
The ruins of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s villa in Barisha, Syria, which was destroyed in a US raid after his death. (Yahya Nemah/EPA)
The successor to slain ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is not present in Iraq, a security official said on Thursday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official explained that Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi hasn’t entered Iraq since the US raid that killed Baghdadi in Syria in October. Information indicates that Quraishi is located in Syria, the source noted. Iraq’s intelligence and the Global Coalition to defeat ISIS are pursuing Quraishi, he added. The US State Department has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. Meanwhile, former head of Parliament's Security and Defense Committee Hakim al-Zamili said 11,000 prisoners have been sentenced to death in Iraq. He said most of them are senior ISIS commanders, and the Iraqi state spends nine dollars per day on each one of them, let alone their medical treatment, the salaries of guards and other expenses. In a televised statement, Zamili said “the state needs 137 years to carry out the executions.” He pointed out that it doesn’t have the will to implement the death sentences. “One million dollars were paid to each of the nine terrorist leaders arrested, in exchange for smuggling them out of the presidential palaces in Basra.” Zamili warned against an ISIS comeback in Iraq due to the internal security differences, and of attempts to smuggle terrorist prisoners from al-Hout Prison.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262176/iraqi-security-official-denies-presence-baghdadi%E2%80%99s-successor-iraq
Lebanon: When Corruption Discovers the Virtues of Justice
Opinion
Eyad Abu Shakra
Eyad Abu Shakra -
Among the most interesting landmarks in the life of any country, whose people delude themselves that they were living in a normal “state”, is when its government goes to war against one of its most senior civil servants. This is exactly what happened last week when the de facto rulers of Lebanon held Riad Salameh, the Governor of Lebanon’s Central Bank, responsible for the horrific financial and economic collapse. The fact is that this collapse is but yet another advanced step in Hezbollah’s “creeping coup”, aimed at taking over Lebanon and annexing it to the “Iranian Crescent”. This is now taking place after the pro-Tehran militia had already imposed its candidate as president, and its electoral law, which would guarantee a secure parliamentary majority protected by its illegitimate weapons. In any case, many things may change between now and next November, under the welter of COVID-19 and its repercussions. Many facts are expected to emerge, many calculations may take shape, and many priorities may impose themselves, whether here in the Middle East or the world at large. Rarely has the world been so helpless and confused as it is before the COVID-19 threat, while the decision-makers in the world’s major powers are having difficulty in choosing between saving lives and saving the economy. I shall not discuss Russia and China’s policies in this instance, hoping to do that later, but I will deal now with what is happening in western Europe and the US. In Europe, all is not well, where there are no firm signs that it is past the worst, or that its countries are well prepared to contain the second wave of the pandemic next autumn. Moreover, in the midst of peoples’ worries and businesses pains, many in several countries feel that the “European Identity” itself is in doubt, especially in those countries where utra-nationalist and secessionist forces have been emboldened by the UK’s leaving of the EU. Indeed, some go further to say that among the most dangerous factor brought by the endemic to the fore is that the Euroskeptics feel that some European countries “let down” others in their time of need. As for the US, we all know that it is in a presidential election year. This particular election year is really exceptional, not only because the country is suffering in terms of lives lost and economic difficulties, but also politically (and constitutionally) given the contradicting approaches between the federal government and many several governors. This is why the daily press briefing, held by President Donald Trump and his task crisis force, is looking more and more like political duels between the right-wing president and his enemies in the liberal media. Worse still for Trump, is that latest opinion polls show that he is trailing his Democratic presidential challenger, former Vice President Joe Biden, significantly, in certain swing states. So, the two major western powers are not in great shape. Given the above, Iran is quite aware of what is going on, and is working hard to exploit the situation even though it has been in a race against economic collapse for years. For decades, the Tehran regime has grown used to adjusting to hardships and running away from its internal problems by starting external adventures and exploiting regional and international contradicting interests, and temporary conflicts inside neighboring countries in order to further its ambitions. Today, the “lobbies” financed by the regimes and some of its regional allies in the Arab world, Europe, and even in the heart of Washington DC, lament the international community’s “depriving” the Iranian people of relief and aid. Yet, those leaders, politicians and media, who are defending the Tehran regime totally ignore the fact that the real culprit, who is robbing the Iranian people of their national wealth, is the sectarian militaristic gang that is plundering Iran’s resources and siphoning them in a military machine with limitless aggressive ambitions. It is clear that Iranian leaders are betting on a change in the White House next November. We know that their henchmen enjoy a strong presence inside the Democratic Party, compared with an almost complete Arab absence, which is politically costly. The fact of the matter is that the Iranian leaders do not care about the suffering of their people as long as the branch of their Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is taking over Lebanon, their militias are squandering Iraq’s resources and the United Nations ignores the aggression of the Houthi militias in Yemen, all along while maintaining beneficial economic, military and political relations with China and Russia Those leaders in Tehran have forced the Iranian people to accept backwardness, illusions, and sectarian and revolutionary slogans. They have also succeeded in “domesticating” a good percentage of this wronged and abused people. Unfortunately, their “students” are perpetrating the same thing in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and even Gaza where they ruined the economy, corrupted society, destroyed coexistence, and distorted the culture and identity. Almost all international reports speak about the bad economic situation in Iran, its long-term oil agreement with China and its continued military cooperation with Russia. However, while the commanders of the IRGC continue their boasting about its military prowess and “innovations”, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, along with his “lobbies” direct the “soft power” alternative outside Iran, using misleading diplomatic propaganda. Yes, Iran is in a race against time. It is a race between internal collapse and favorable political changes abroad, while its leaders pursue the same strategy, which they have mastered, and for which they have no other alternatives. Everywhere the Tehran regime have succeeded in imposing its influence, its henchman have applied the same concepts and priorities. Everywhere Tehran’s puppets have won control, they destroyed its institutions and replaced them with copies of the “Khomeinist Revolution” with all its branches and financial, military and intelligence networks. Everywhere, pro-Tehran banners have been raised, the legitimate state fell, and a “statelet” replaced it under the leadership of a local “guide” that governs in the name of Iran’s “Supreme Guide”. Today, as the Lebanese people suffer under the severe economic and financial crisis, and are threatened by COVID-19, they know that only a handful of their “leaders” are above suspicion. Worse still, while some of them have been the main cause and mainstay of corruption, and the avowed enemies of the justice system, they are now the loudest lecturers about honesty and the leading admirers of justice.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262156/eyad-abu-shakra/lebanon-when-corruption-discovers-virtues-justice
Yemen’s Legitimacy Calls on STC to ‘End Insurgency’
Arab World
New York - London - Ali Barada and Asharq Al-Awsat
UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths
The Yemeni legitimate government has welcomed a statement issued by the UN Security Council in which it expressed its deep concern over the declaration of self-rule by the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC). “It is very important for the STC to end its armed insurgency, repeal its unconstitutional declaration and come back to implement the Riyadh Agreement and immediately stop any measures that may undermine the actions of the state's institutions in the interim capital Aden, particularly in light of the difficult circumstances Aden has gone through due to natural disasters such as floods and the coronavirus pandemic after five cases of infection were detected,” the Yemeni government said. It welcomed Saudi Arabia's stances and all statements issued by friendly countries that clearly voiced the urgency of returning the situation in the interim capital Aden to the pre-STC declaration phase. The Security Council’s 15 member states have reaffirmed their strong commitment to Yemen’s unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and called for expediting the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement as soon as possible. In a press statement, the members expressed their concern that the STC actions could distract from the efforts of UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths to secure a nationwide ceasefire, confidence-building measures, and the restart of a Yemeni-led and Yemeni-owned inclusive political process. Griffiths had called on all political actors to cooperate in good faith, refrain from taking escalatory actions, and put the interests of Yemenis first. On Monday, the Arab Coalition urged the STC to honor the terms of the Riyadh Agreement signed six months ago between the Southern Council and the Yemeni government. The STC held a meeting on Thursday and denounced the worldwide rejection of its self-rule declaration. Head of STC general assembly Ahmed Bin Buraik met with a number of former defense ministers and retired southern military leaders to discuss developments in the south. A statement issued following the meeting called the worldwide condemnation of the STC self-rule declaration “vicious,” noting that the announcement was made in the interests of the people of the south and not designed to harm any party. To justify their self-administration announcement, the statement said that four governorates of Marib, Al-Mahra, Shabwa and Socotra, were already largely self-administered.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262121/yemen%E2%80%99s-legitimacy-calls-stc-%E2%80%98end-insurgency%E2%80%99
Exclusive - New Secrets Revealed about Bin Laden’s Years in Sudan
Features
Khartoum – Mohammed Amin Yassine
Osama bin Laden is seen in a file photo taken in Afghanistan in 1998. (Reuters)
“I will leave, but you won’t solve your problems with the Americans.” These were the parting words of al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, as he boarded a military plane that flew him out of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to the mountains of Tora Bora in Afghanistan in 1996. Bin Laden, who was killed exactly nine years ago, never expected to be expelled by a fundamentalist regime that had adopted a hardline Islamic ideology opposed to the West and Americans. His prediction did come true, however. A year after he left Sudan, Washington imposed economic sanctions against the country. Seven years before his expulsion, Sudan had fallen into the hands of the National Islamic Front, also known as the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1970s, after a military coup on June 30, 1989. The coup was plotted by the group’s leader, Hassan al-Turabi. Afterwards, Sudan was transformed into a safe haven for Islamic jihadist groups in other countries, especially Arab ones. Failed assassination The US listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1993 after accusing its government of harboring the al-Qaeda leader and opening its territories to extremist groups from throughout the world. Bin Laden arrived in Sudan in 1991 under the guise of a businessman and investor. He was close to the Islamic group that was ruling the country and that had adopted jihadist slogans against the West. Bin Laden consequently held several open and secret meetings with the leaders of the Islamic Front, such as Omar al-Bashir and Turabi. Sources close to the decision-making powers at the Front at the time, said Bashir, the now-ousted president, and his deputy, Ali Osman Taha, had visited Bin Laden at his house in the Riyadh neighborhood in Khartoum to inform him about plans to deport him to Afghanistan. The same sources said Bin Laden had asked about the fate of his assets and properties in Sudan. He was informed that they will be liquidated and that his rights will be preserved. In fact, this never happened, revealed circles close to those in power. As Bin Laden was flown out of Khartoum, Bashir and his deputy, headed to Turabi’s home to inform him that the al-Qaeda leader had left the country at his own volition after acknowledging the difficult situation it was going through. This was the official version of events. The sources, however, stated that Taha had first proposed his expulsion after the failed attempt to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in 1995. Taha was rumored to have been involved in the plot. Bashir was convinced that he must go. Taha wanted to “get rid of” Bin Laden immediately after it soon started to emerge that he and his regime may have been in on the assassination attempt by providing the conspirators with logistic help. Former security and intelligence chief Qutbi al-Mahdi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Taha’s role in the plot was limited to logistic support and financing the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Jamaa al-Islamiyya groups that carried out the attack. Turabi had directly accused Taha and his deputy of being involved in the plot. He revealed that Taha had personally detailed to him the incident, asking him to eliminate two Islamists who were involved. They had just recently returned to Khartoum and were later expelled to Afghanistan. Taha’s actions demonstrate that he was “always prepared to do anything to keep his position in power, even sacrificing his fellow members in his organization,” the sources said. This statement was confirmed by conspirators who had later plotted to remove Turabi from power. They succeeded in 1999 and the Islamist Front split between Bashir, who remained president, and Turabi, who became part of the opposition. Necessary sacrifice The sources dismissed the official story about Bin Laden’s “voluntary” departure from Sudan, instead saying the Sudan Brotherhood members had “sacrificed” him because they feared the consequences of the failed attempt on Mubarak’s life. The failed attack led to the ouster of then intelligence chief Nafeh Ali Nafeh and several Islamist members of his agency. The sources said Turabi had asked Bashir to keep Nafeh in his position because his dismissal would implicate Sudan. Bashir did not heed the warning and acted on his own. Other reports suggest that Bashir had repeatedly sought to get rid of Bin Laden after his regime grew tired of al-Qaeda. His attempts all failed. He even tried to hand him over to the United States, which responded that it did not have enough evidence to put him on trial and secure a conviction. At the time, Vanity Fair magazine released a statement from the intelligence chief, Qutbi, that Sudan was ready to turn over Bin Laden, who was not yet wanted by the CIA. Washington was not interested at the time. When Bin Laden received word that the regime was seeking to hand him over to foreign forces, he requested to leave. Sources close to the decision-making powers at the time told Asharq Al-Awsat that the expulsion was decided by the Sudanese regime, specifically Bashir and Taha. Prior to his expulsion, the intelligence agency had detained all foreign Islamists in Sudan. They turned over the Libyans to then ruler Moammar al-Gaddafi, the Eritreans to Eritrea and the Tunisians to Tunisia. Bin Laden was about to be handed over to the US. Beginnings In the mid-1990s, German authorities at Frankfurt airport arrested a Syrian called Imad and known as Abou Hajar, a member of al-Qaeda. He was handed over to US intelligence. He was given save haven by the Islamist regime in Sudan and was resident in Khartoum for years. He led prayers at a mosque in the Riyadh neighborhood, the same neighborhood where Bin Laden lived and the same mosque where the al-Qaeda leader prayed. A resident of the neighborhood told Asharq Al-Awsat that Abou Hajar had given religious lessons at the mosque, which was frequented by different foreign residents of the upscale neighborhood. Many were close to Bin Laden. Bin Laden himself said little and kept to himself except when greeting others in a low barely audible tone. His house was guarded by members of the security and intelligence services. His rented home belonged to a Sudanese man, who was rumored to be the head of the al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory that was struck by the US with a Cruse missile in 1995 for its alleged ties with al-Qaeda and for manufacturing chemical weapons. The attack was in response to the bombing of the US embassies in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi. Washington also carried out air raids against “mujahideen” training camps in Afghanistan. One such attack sought to kill Bin Laden. Sources said that when Bin Laden first requested to reside in Sudan, he was welcomed by Turabi, who dreamed of having his country become a safe haven for Islamist businessmen from across the Muslim world. He allowed them to enter without visas and granted the Sudanese citizenship to whoever requested it. Soon after his arrival, Bin Laden began investing millions of dollars in several different projects. He set up various companies, implemented road projects and bought a farm belonging to Khartoum University. He used the farm to set up a training camp for the various multinational members of al-Qaeda. The harboring of these fighters, who had already received high levels of training even before arriving in Sudan, would later drag the country into terrorism. US relations Turabi even had relations with the “Afghan Jihad” group. The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that these ties probably date back to 1979 after the Soviets occupied Afghanistan when Turbai served as justice minister in Prime Minister Jaafar Nimeiry’s government. Turabi had even convinced the premier to open the first office for the Afghan Jihad in the Arab world in Khartoum. The office was secretly opened in 1980. Bin Laden played a central role in the Afghan Jihad due to his wealth and ties with Abdullah Azzam, the Brotherhood member, whom sources say had the idea to form al-Qaeda. Relations between the Islamic movement in Sudan with the US date back to the Cold War and the Afghanistan War when Soviet intelligence accused the Muslim Brotherhood of operating under Washington’s influence. It is often said in Sudan that generations of Islamic movement members earned their university and higher education degrees in the US. They include Ahmed Osman Makki, Amin Hassan Omar, Sayyed al-Khatib and dozens of others. Turabi and Bin Laden first met at the former’s house in Khartoum in 1988 in wake of floods that had ravaged Sudan. Bin Laden had landed in the country as part of a relief team that included his younger brother. Sources close to Turabi told Asharq Al-Awsat that he did not hold many meetings with Bin Laden and they were often held in secret. Turabi often spoke to Bin Laden of shifting the Islamic movement towards openness, while the al-Qaeda leader stuck to his extremist views. They also discussed investment in roads, agriculture and airports. The sources confirmed that Bashir enjoyed good relations with Bin Laden. He used to visit him at his home and they were seen together at the inauguration of several projects in Sudan. World leaders avoid discussing any ties they may have had with Bin Laden while he was living Sudan, which raises questions by over his activity, which was not limited to investment and that the Sudanese government was aware of his actions. Mahdi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Turabi and Bashir had both agreed on the need for Bin Laden to leave Sudan as soon as possible after coming pressure from regional countries and possibly even Taha. After the Soviet Union quit Afghanistan in the early 1990s and after fierce fighting between the Arab Afghan Mujahideen with American support, they feared that the US would turn them over to their countries, he continued. Many consequently sought refuge in Sudan, which welcomed them with open arms. Some worked in investment with Bin Laden. 9/11 Avoided Mahdi said that the Sudanese government offered to hand over Bin Laden to the Americans, who responded that they had no charges against him. Khartoum, therefore, had no choice but to deport him to fend off any terrorism accusations against it. Mahdi stressed: “America is responsible for forming terrorism because it supported the terrorists while they were fighting the Russians. After the end of the Cold War, it exerted pressure on Sudan to expel Afghan Jihad members from the country. We had no choice but to force them to return to their countries. The security and intelligence agencies were not involved in handing them over to US intelligence.” Mahdi denied that the Brotherhood, which is accused of plotting to assassinate Mubarak, had any relations with Bin Laden and his companion, Ayman al-Zawahiri. He said members of the Egyptian Jihad and Jamaa al-Islamiyya were attempting to implicate al-Qaeda, but they failed. Taha, he revealed, played a role in the failed attempt on Mubarak’s life. His role was limited to providing logistic and financial support. Taha believed that Mubarak was the greatest obstacle in the development of Sudanese-Egyptian relations and relations with the Gulf and several other countries. The sources said the idea of the assassination was first proposed by the Egyptian Jihad and they approached Taha for support. Contact between the two sides took place through Sudanese intelligence. The plot ultimately failed. Three people were killed at the scene and Ethiopian security arrested three suspects, while three others fled to Sudan. They were reportedly killed to eliminate any traces back to their leaders. “Bin Laden and his all jihadist groups had their own unit in the Sudanese intelligence and security agency,” a security source told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity. “When counter-terrorism cooperation began, then agency chief Salah Abdallah Gosh handed American intelligence 300 valuable intelligence files on Bin Laden.” The move was a stab in the back by Sudan against the Islamists, he said. American intelligence would later say that the failure of Bill Clinton’s administration to cooperate with Sudan was a direct factor that led to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Had the administration been aware of the important information Sudanese intelligence had handed over to the US, New York would have avoided the attack that changed the world. Afghanistan ultimately became Bin Laden’s final safe haven. Its Taliban rulers refused to turn him over to Washington.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262106/exclusive-new-secrets-revealed-about-bin-laden%E2%80%99s-years-sudan
Ankara has fired back at a scathing report drafted by the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which described Fethullah Gulen as a “cleric” while Turkey sees him the head of a terrorist organization. According to the report, “in 2019, religious freedom conditions in Turkey remained worrisome, with the perpetuation of restrictive and intrusive governmental policies on religious practice and a marked increase in incidents of vandalism and societal violence against religious minorities." “Throughout the year, the Turkish government continued to dismiss, detain, and arrest individuals affiliated with, or accused of affiliation with, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen,” the report said. Ankara has demanded the extradition of Gulen, accusing him of being the mastermind of the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said that "the report contains baseless, unaccredited and vague allegations as in the past years, while trying to portray isolated incidents as violations of religious freedoms through far-fetched accusations." Highlighting the importance attached by Turkey to protect religious freedom, including that of religious minorities, he said his country made it clear that it would not tolerate any harm to the religious freedoms of its people. "The labeling of the Operation Peace Spring area as an 'occupation zone' nevertheless is a contradictory and inconsistent approach," he said, adding that Turkey's legitimate security concerns on its Syrian border had been acknowledged by the US itself in 2019. "This clearly reveals that the purpose of the report is not to protect religious rights and freedoms," the spokesman underlined. The US report came amid an endeavor by Erdogan to mend ties with the US by sending a shipment of medical supplies to face the COVID-19 outbreak.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262091/turkey-fires-back-us-religious-freedom-report
Cairo - Waleed Abdul Rahman
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayyeb has called for embracing morals as the sole way out of the world’s crises. “Islam doesn’t seek war or bloodshed, and Muslims only fight back to defend themselves,” he affirmed. In this case, Muslims are prohibited to kill peaceful individuals such as priests, women, farmers and the elderly. In Thursday’s statement, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar said that “mercy” is a key moral feature in Islam to guarantee a decent life. Its absence turns people’s lives into chaos, causes social and family breakdown, incites evil, peddles dominance over the country and people, and ignites wars. In his program ‘El-Tayyeb’, he stressed that the term “mercy” and its derivatives were mentioned 199 times in Quran, the statement read. God has urged believers to be merciful in all aspects, the Sheikh added. ‘El-Tayyeb Program’ is broadcast during Ramadan on several channels in Egypt and the Arab world, in addition to the official social media pages of Al-Azhar and Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262066/azhar%E2%80%99s-grand-imam-says-islam-seeks-no-war
Rami Makhlouf Launches Counterattack after Syrian Regime Seizes his Assets
Arab World
Damascus - London - Asharq Al-Awsat
A combination photo of Bashar Assad and Rami Makhlouf
Rami Makhlouf, the cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad, launched a counter attack on measures taken by the Syrian authorities to seize his assets, stressing his involvement in “charitable works.” “After reports about a donation we planned to make during the holy month of Ramadan to assist our people, things went out of control. We received threats to stop our work, simply because we dared to publically offer assistance to the needy, and because we announced financing the Al-Bustan Association,” Makhlouf wrote on his Facebook page. He asked, “Why the more grants we offer, the more the curse we receive?” Last year, Makhlouf was linked to financing pro-regime forces and their militias, mainly through Al-Bustan Association. “Since many years we have made donations to support our people.” The Syrian regime has ordered a series of measures against Makhlouf’s companies, including the Association, and his shares in the state-owned Syrian Telecom Company (Syriatel), the country’s biggest mobile phone company. The government’s Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Authority informed two of Makhlouf’s companies, “Syriatel” and “MTN” mobile phone to pay about 234 billion Syrian pounds to the state treasury as a penalty. It set May 5 as a deadline for the two firms to comply with the decision. In case of failure of compliance within the specified time limit, the Authority said it would take all necessary legal measures to guarantee the rights of the public treasury. Official media quoted a Syrian economic researcher as saying that the amendment of the contracts with the two mobile companies has caused the loss of more than 338 billion pounds (482 million dollars) to the treasury. Last week, the Syrian Finance Ministry seized the assets of the “Abar Petroleum Service SAL offshore” company, which is registered in Beirut and manages the transfer of shipments of petroleum products, diesel, gasoline, and liquefied gas. Makhlouf is on the list of US sanctions for supporting the Damascus regime. The Syrian authorities accuse Makhlouf of violating the import rules by smuggling products worth 1.9 billion Syrian pounds without paying charges and fees. Makhlouf denies links to the company. The measures against Makhlouf come as part of a campaign launched last year by the Syrian regime to force entrepreneurs and businessmen to pay millions of dollars to the Central Bank to save the country from bankruptcy.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2262046/rami-makhlouf-launches-counterattack-after-syrian-regime-seizes-his-assets
