Rami Makhlouf, the maternal cousin of Syria's Bashar Al Assad, has made a rare public statement addressing the president over an order to seize his assets.
In the video on Facebook, the wealthy businessman said he had offered money to "assist people" in Ramadan, but had received threats against his companies.
“After reports about a donation we planned to make during the holy month of Ramadan to assist our people, things went out of control," Mr Makhlouf said.
"We received threats to stop our work, simply because we dared to publicly offer assistance to the needy. Why the more grants we offer, the more the curse we receive?”
Mr Makhlouf owns the Syriatel communications company. It has about 11 million users and pays 12 billion Syrian pounds (Dh86.1m/US$23.4m) in tax and 50 per cent of profits to the regime, he said in the video.
He said a government committee asked him for between 125bn and 130bn Syrian pounds for tax fraud, and said Mr Al Assad should oversee distributing the money from his company to the poor as "all the others cannot be trusted".
"I respect your decision, Mr President, and it's my duty to carry it out but I'm begging you to give the requested funds to those in need," he said.
The Syrian regime has ordered a measures against companies owned by Mr Makhlouf and his shares in Syriatel.
Mr Makhlouf stressed that 50 per cent of the income from his companies already goes to the regime.
"If we profit 1 Syrian lira then the government also gets 1 Syrian lira, this is aside from the taxes that we already pay," he said.
Mr Makhlouf expressed his willingness to pay the amount imposed by the government, despite calling it "unfair".
"How can someone steal from his own country?" he said.
Mr Makhlouf said the requested funds did not comply with the terms of the contract between his companies and the government, and did not take into consideration the company's income and expenses.
He asked for the money to be taken in instalments so that his businesses do not collapse.
The Syrian regime is forcing entrepreneurs and businessmen to pay millions of dollars as of last year to the Central Bank to save the country from bankruptcy.
The Finance Ministry decided last week to seize the assets of Abar Petroleum Service, an oil and gas shipping company owned by Mr Makhlouf and registered in Beirut.
They said he had breached import rules and smuggled products worth 1.9bn Syrian pounds into the country without paying the fees.
Mr Makhlouf has been under international sanctions since 2008 because of his support for the regime.
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Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth
Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger
Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler
Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed
Matt Kuchar, Kevin Chappell
Charley Hoffman*, Phil Mickelson*
International Team
Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day
Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
Marc Leishman, Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace, Si Woo Kim
Jhonattan Vegas, Adam Hadwin
Emiliano Grillo*, Anirban Lahiri*
* denotes captain's picks
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Federer's 11 Wimbledon finals
2003 Beat Mark Philippoussis
2004 Beat Andy Roddick
2005 Beat Andy Roddick
2006 Beat Rafael Nadal
2007 Beat Rafael Nadal
2008 Lost to Rafael Nadal
2009 Beat Andy Roddick
2012 Beat Andy Murray
2014 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2015 Lost to Novak Djokovic
2017 Beat Marin Cilic
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
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Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
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Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
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TV: BeIN Sports
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- Join parent networks
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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