Perilous
Times
Syria: Assad family 'selling off overseas property empire'
A multimillion pound property empire that includes flats and
houses in London is being sold off and turned into hard cash by
members of Syria's Assad family, it has been reported.
By Nabila Ramdani
The Telegraph UK
5:55PM BST 06 Oct 2011
Properties include a £10 million town house in Mayfair bought by
Rifaat al-Assad, the so-called 'Butcher of Hama', who is accused
of leading a massacre of up to 40,000 people 30 years ago.
His nephew, Bashar al-Assad, is currently leading a ruthless and
bloody campaign against pro-democracy campaigners. The UN human
rights office on Thursday raised the tally of people killed during
seven months of unrest to more than 2,900.
The selling off of the property suggests the Assads are
liquidating their assets in the chance the regime is forced from
power in Syria.
London property belonging to toppled dictators Muammar Gaddafi of
Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of
Tunisia, was seized soon after they fell.
According to the French satirical and current affairs magazine
Charlie Hebdo, Rifaat, Bashar al-Assad's uncle, "has sold off his
huge property portfolio in the United States, London, Spain and
France", with the clan wanting to "liquidate their oversease homes
as quickly as possible". The liquidation of the properties was
reportedly being carried out by two of Rifaat's four wives, as
well as his children.
The magazine, which has obtained official bank documents
confirming the transactions, says that two "huge lots" belonging
to the Assads in Puerto Banus, the marina town on Spain's Costa
del Sol, are on the market for up to £600 million.
Even this figure has been discounted by many millions, suggesting
that the Assads are eager to get rid of their property as quickly
as possible.
Rifaat al-Assad, 73 and the former vice president of Syria, moved
into a Georgian mansion off Park Lane in 2009.
Although he has never been indicted by an international court for
the Hama massacre in 1982, there are numerous independent accounts
of his alleged involvement. Rifaat, who spends most of his time
living in France nowadays, denies the claims. He was unavailable
for comment.
Asma al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, is a UK passport
holder who was born and raised in London, where her parents still
live, and where she still owns homes.
: 12 people were killed in clashes between soldiers and deserters
in villages of northwest Syria yesterday, rights groups have said.