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Saleh, Bathily Discuss Libyan Elections

Speaker Aguila Saleh meets with UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. (Media Center of the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives on Facebook)
Speaker Aguila Saleh meets with UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. (Media Center of the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives on Facebook)
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Saleh, Bathily Discuss Libyan Elections

Speaker Aguila Saleh meets with UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. (Media Center of the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives on Facebook)
Speaker Aguila Saleh meets with UN envoy Abdoulaye Bathily. (Media Center of the Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives on Facebook)

Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Libya Abdoulaye Bathily met Saturday with the Libyan House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker Aguila Saleh to discuss efforts to hold elections.

Bathily met with Saleh at his office in the city of Al Qubbah where they discussed the political updates, specifically the efforts to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections.

They also tackled the outcomes of the meetings of the Libyan 6+6 Joint Committee for Preparing Electoral Laws.

Saleh stressed the importance of forming a unified government that would hold the elections, while Bathily urged more efforts and consultation to stage the polls, said a statement from the speaker’s press office.

Meanwhile, armed forces in deployed heavily in the capital Tripoli Saturday, apparently to prevent any further protests against the interim Government of National Unity over dismissed Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush's meeting with Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Italy last month.

Muhammad Takala, the new president of the High Council of State, received a phone call from Hamas leader Ismail Hanieh, who expressed the Palestinians’ gratitude for Libya’s stances that reject normalizing ties with Israel.

Hanieh hailed the stances of the High Council of State and the official institutions, according to a statement by the Council.

For his part, Takala underlined the firm Libyan stance toward the Palestinian cause.

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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
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SOHR: Document Reveals Assad Family Smuggled Millions to Moscow

The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)
The historic Hotel Ukraina in central Moscow (Wikipedia)

A confidential document obtained by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has revealed massive money smuggling operations carried out via Syrian Airlines to Moscow.
The operations are described as among the most corrupt financial transfers orchestrated by the now-defunct Syrian regime.
According to the document, the majority of the funds stem from profits made through the production and trade of Captagon, a highly lucrative illicit drug.
The head of SOHR, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the most recent transfer took place just four days before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow in December of last year.
Rami Abdel Rahman also affirmed that the leaked document underscores the “deep involvement of the former Syrian regime in illegal activities.”
He added that further investigations could uncover a vast network of secret financial operations used to transfer large sums of money from Syria to Russia and other countries under official cover and without oversight.
“The regime, led by the ousted Assad and his brother, spearheaded drug-related investments, particularly through the production, promotion, and export of Captagon,” Abdel Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat.
He explained that one key route involved a small port near the Afamia chalets on Syria's coast, which previously belonged to Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of late former President Hafez al-Assad.
From there, shipments were sent via smugglers to Italian ports, where collaborating traders distributed the drugs globally.
A Syrian source based in Russia, closely monitoring the regime’s activities and investments there, said the content of the leaked document is not new but that its official confirmation adds weight to prior claims.
“Western media had previously reported on the regime’s money-smuggling operations, which led to some loyalists being added to international sanctions lists, particularly regime-linked businessmen like Mudalal Khouri,” the source, who requested anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
Sanctions were also imposed on individuals accused of money laundering for the regime.
The source confirmed that the operations were conducted using Syrian Airlines flights to Moscow.
“There were dozens of such flights, each loaded with hard currency—mostly US dollars and €500 euro notes,” the source said.
The money was reportedly delivered directly from the airport to the Syrian regime's embassy in Moscow, where it was distributed to loyalist businessmen.
These funds were then invested in Russian and Belarusian banks, real estate, and commercial properties. Some of the money was also used to establish companies in both countries.
The operations were allegedly overseen by Mohammed Makhlouf, the maternal uncle of Assad.