Report: U.S. May Sanction Miqati over Financial Ties with Assad
The staff of the U.S. Treasury Department, which is in charge of following up on the financial activities of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s family and entourage, believe that they are getting closer to unveiling a link between Assad’s financial interests and Premier Najib Miqati and his brother Taha, who is also a businessman.
According to a U.S. report to be published Friday by the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai, the set of sanctions recently imposed on Syriatel -- Syria’s largest mobile phone operator owned by Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf -- were supposed to be expanded to include either Miqati or his brother Taha for their role in establishing the Syrian firm and introducing the cellphone technology to the Syrian market more than a decade ago.
“There are major financial ties between Syria and Lebanon and a large number of officials in both countries have been targeted by U.S. sanctions … and the Miqati family has ties with the Assad family, and we are working on documenting and substantiating this information,” U.S. sources told the newspaper.
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