The US State Department has announced a slew of sanctions to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and the eve of Human Rights Day, targeting individuals from multiple countries.
The State Department said the United States was redesignating UK resident Fawaz Akhras, father of the British-born wife of the deposed Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, for providing him with material support.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that Akhras was being designated for providing “support and facilitation to Bashar al-Assad related to financial matters, sanctions evasion and attempts by Bashar al-Assad to achieve international political engagement.”
Akhras was born in the Syrian city of Homs in September 1946, and is a dual Syrian and UK national, according to the Treasury’s list of sanctioned individuals.
He trained as a cardiologist, and practiced medicine in London, where his daughter Asma – who is married to the toppled former president – was born.
Akhras, whose registered address is an unassuming house in west London, was previously sanctioned by the US in 2020 along with Asma, his wife Sahar, and several other family members.
Assad’s in-laws have fled the UK and are believed to be in Moscow, their neighbors and friends have told MailOnline.
The Kremlin has confirmed that Assad, Asma and their three children were given asylum on the direct orders of Vladimir Putin after fleeing Syria.
