Syria’s Assad Defeated His Foes. Now He Targets His Friends.

For nine a long time, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has waged a brutal civil war towards his enemies and allowed his good friends to income from it. Now, he is squeezing individuals similar allies to solidify power and make certain the financial state stays afloat as the expenditures of rebuilding from the conflict pile up.

Mr. Assad has been concentrating on more than a dozen pro-regime funds adult males, in a shakedown that has touched industries from actual estate to telecommunications and vitality and imparted the concept that he by itself dictates Syria’s long run.

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