It read like a sycophantic ode interspersed with a litany of complaints of how he had repeatedly been taken advantage of by the regime. Her son Ghaydaq fought for Bashar in Deir Ezzor during the uprising and yet was killed afterward in Latakia in clashes with a regime soldier who had come to arrest him on obscure criminal charges. As the economy tumbles, average Assad supporters are beginning to wonder if their sacrifices have been worth it.
At the end of the war, they expected to reap some material profit—more jobs, promotions, or preferential treatment in government-awarded business contracts. Instead, the bankrupt government has left them poorer and hungry. Barabandi, the former Syrian diplomat, said that the Alawites are flabbergasted at the Makhlouf-Bashar saga.
Several Syrian experts told Foreign Policy that there is no doubt that Bashar al-Assad is losing support among Alawites.
It is no secret that Ribal and Douraid al-Assad wished that their father, Rifaat, and not Bashar, had succeeded Hafez. Ribal, however, is young and admits he would like to be active in Syrian politics. The other family that has been itching to make a comeback is that of Mustafa Tlass, long-time regime loyalists who defected during the uprising.
Now based in Paris, Manaf has suggested in Russian media that there are alternatives to Bashar if Russia was interested in backing them. For now, Russia seems more interested in controlling rather than replacing Bashar al-Assad. Going forward, he will find it harder to control the country—but it will be easier than ever for Russia to control him. Twitter: anchalvohra. Turkey and Russia are using desperate mercenaries from the last war to fight in the next one.
Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Argument An expert's point of view on a current event. The Syrian currency is in a free fall and basic services and resources have become scarce or are offered at exorbitant parallel market prices.
Fighting has largely subsided, but parts of Syria remain out of government control and foreign troops and armed groups are deployed in different parts of the country.
The conflict that began in started after the government cracked down on peaceful protests, turning the opposition against the decades-long rule of the al-Assad family into an armed rebellion. Al-Assad, targeted by widening sanctions and isolated by the West, is supported by Iran and Russia, which sent in troops and assistance that have propped him up in the fight against rebel groups.
US and European officials have questioned the legitimacy of the election, saying it violated UN resolutions in place to resolve the conflict, lacks any international monitoring and is unrepresentative of all Syrians. Despite a ceasefire deal in place since last year, a war monitor and rescue workers reported government shelling of a village in the last rebel-held enclave in northwestern Syria that killed at least five, including two girls and their grandmother.
The White Helmets, or Syrian Civil Defence — a volunteer search-and-rescue group that operates in rebel-held parts of Syria, said two volunteers were wounded in the shelling of Sarja, a village in Idlib province. Violence has been rising in recent weeks in the enclave as government troops edge towards restoring control of the territory, home to nearly four million people.
At the time, it halted a crushing Russian-backed government air and ground campaign aimed at retaking the region. Sources in Syria said people were arrested, sometimes released and then re-arrested.
A Damascus banker with knowledge of the matter said the employees were questioned about fund transfers to front companies set up by Makhlouf in the British Virgin Islands and Jersey. The rift between Assad and Makhlouf burst into public view on April 30, when Makhlouf posted the first of three videos to social media. In the videos, he said the government had asked him to step down from his companies, including Syriatel.
On May 19, , the finance ministry froze the assets of Makhlouf, his wife and an unspecified number of his at least two children, according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
Makhlouf insisted in one of his social media posts that he stands ready to pay. A separate order banned Makhlouf from obtaining government contracts for five years. As Makhlouf has fallen, others have stepped into his place. One powerful man who has emerged at the top of a new elite is Samer Foz, a building contractor turned commodities trader.
Foz, a Sunni Muslim, was sanctioned by the United States in June , along with more than a dozen individuals and companies, for providing financial support to Assad. I have nothing to say to the press. Syrian media have previously reported that the meeting took place, but details of what was discussed are revealed here for the first time. But the meeting was not about charity, said three sources briefed by people who attended. He suggested their fortunes could be seized if they did not give a significant contribution to state coffers.
People were reluctant to discuss the matter with Reuters by phone. The Alawites rose to dominate the political system in majority Sunni Syria after controlling the army following a coup that brought the Baath Party to power in In a recent post, on July 9, Makhlouf remained defiant. Discord in Damascus. Illustration by Catherine Tai.
Hunt for cash As Makhlouf has fallen, others have stepped into his place. Follow Reuters Investigates.
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