02-10-2013, 11:00 AM
A designedly provocative action. He's been in Paris since 1984 - almost 30 years - and they just've discovered his corruption? Yeah, right.
Factions fighting Obama and others to scupper any peace in Syria and Iran.
France investigates Bashar al-Assad's uncle's £134m Paris properties
Anti-corruption groups allege Rifaat al-Assad acquired millions of pounds by abusing his power and embezzling public funds
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and agencies
theguardian.com, Tuesday 1 October 2013 13.06 BST
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Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of the former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, went into exile in 1984. Photograph: AP
Paris prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into the vast property portfolio of an uncle of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, after two anti-corruption groups filed a complaint alleging he illegally acquired millions of pounds' worth of assets in France.
Rifaat al-Assad, a former military commander, has been accused by the French anti-corruption campaign groups Sherpa and Transparency International France of corruption, money-laundering, embezzlement of public funds and misuse of corporate assets.
The groups claim that Assad's fortune is far beyond what he earned as a military commander or vice-president before he left Syria in 1984. They allege that his holdings, including a luxurious seven-storey townhouse on one of Paris's most expensive streets and several dozen others apartments, must have been amassed by pilfering Syrian public funds and abusing power.
Last month Le Monde estimated the value of his French property was more than €160m (£134m). His portfolio allegedly includes a chateau with 45 hectares of land just outside Paris, a series of apartments and a plot of land in the west of Paris, and a vast townhouse on the exclusive Avenue Foch with a view of the Arc de Triomphe said to be worth about €90m.
There are echoes of another case in which French authorities are investigating the conspicuous Paris fortunes and alleged ill-gotten-gains of three serving African leaders and their families. The anti-corruption campaign groups argue that France should not serve as a refuge for the questionable cash of ruling families, and have called for Assad's assets to be frozen.
The state prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary inquiry to inventory the fortune and determine whether a formal investigation should be launched, but no assets have been frozen at this stage. Rifaat al-Assad's lawyer and family have denied the allegations against him.
Assad, 76, lives in exile between Spain and France, where he has been decorated with the Legion of Honour. He fled Syria and went into exile in Europe in 1984 after staging a failed coup attempt against his brother, Hafez al-Assad, the then president and father of Bashar.
A sworn opponent of the current regime from which he has firmly distanced himself, there are no international sanctions against him. But human rights groups accuse him of playing a leading role in the bloody crushing of an 1982 uprising against his brother, in which tens of thousands were killed in Hama. He has denied the accusations.
Assad's lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told French media his client denied any wrongdoing, and said his property holdings, dating back to 1984-86, were legal and transparent.
In a 2011 interview Assad told the Associated Press that he had lost all his money in the stock market and lived off the largesse of his 16 children. His son Siwar said at the time that the holdings mostly included property but also two TV networks, hotels and a restaurant in Syria.
Siwar said this week that his father was unconcerned about the latest French allegations because he was too busy with his work organising one faction of Syria's opposition. Siwar said his father had filed a suit against the anti-corruption groups alleging false and slanderous denunciations. "The origin [of the fortune] is completely legal," he said.
Factions fighting Obama and others to scupper any peace in Syria and Iran.
Quote:
France investigates Bashar al-Assad's uncle's £134m Paris properties
Anti-corruption groups allege Rifaat al-Assad acquired millions of pounds by abusing his power and embezzling public funds
Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and agencies
theguardian.com, Tuesday 1 October 2013 13.06 BST
[ATTACH=CONFIG]5350[/ATTACH]
Rifaat al-Assad, the younger brother of the former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, went into exile in 1984. Photograph: AP
Paris prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into the vast property portfolio of an uncle of the Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad, after two anti-corruption groups filed a complaint alleging he illegally acquired millions of pounds' worth of assets in France.
Rifaat al-Assad, a former military commander, has been accused by the French anti-corruption campaign groups Sherpa and Transparency International France of corruption, money-laundering, embezzlement of public funds and misuse of corporate assets.
The groups claim that Assad's fortune is far beyond what he earned as a military commander or vice-president before he left Syria in 1984. They allege that his holdings, including a luxurious seven-storey townhouse on one of Paris's most expensive streets and several dozen others apartments, must have been amassed by pilfering Syrian public funds and abusing power.
Last month Le Monde estimated the value of his French property was more than €160m (£134m). His portfolio allegedly includes a chateau with 45 hectares of land just outside Paris, a series of apartments and a plot of land in the west of Paris, and a vast townhouse on the exclusive Avenue Foch with a view of the Arc de Triomphe said to be worth about €90m.
There are echoes of another case in which French authorities are investigating the conspicuous Paris fortunes and alleged ill-gotten-gains of three serving African leaders and their families. The anti-corruption campaign groups argue that France should not serve as a refuge for the questionable cash of ruling families, and have called for Assad's assets to be frozen.
The state prosecutor's office has opened a preliminary inquiry to inventory the fortune and determine whether a formal investigation should be launched, but no assets have been frozen at this stage. Rifaat al-Assad's lawyer and family have denied the allegations against him.
Assad, 76, lives in exile between Spain and France, where he has been decorated with the Legion of Honour. He fled Syria and went into exile in Europe in 1984 after staging a failed coup attempt against his brother, Hafez al-Assad, the then president and father of Bashar.
A sworn opponent of the current regime from which he has firmly distanced himself, there are no international sanctions against him. But human rights groups accuse him of playing a leading role in the bloody crushing of an 1982 uprising against his brother, in which tens of thousands were killed in Hama. He has denied the accusations.
Assad's lawyer, Marcel Ceccaldi, told French media his client denied any wrongdoing, and said his property holdings, dating back to 1984-86, were legal and transparent.
In a 2011 interview Assad told the Associated Press that he had lost all his money in the stock market and lived off the largesse of his 16 children. His son Siwar said at the time that the holdings mostly included property but also two TV networks, hotels and a restaurant in Syria.
Siwar said this week that his father was unconcerned about the latest French allegations because he was too busy with his work organising one faction of Syria's opposition. Siwar said his father had filed a suit against the anti-corruption groups alleging false and slanderous denunciations. "The origin [of the fortune] is completely legal," he said.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14