Syrian business tycoon Rami Makhlouf on Monday attacked what he called “war merchants” and demanded that they be held accountable through a message he sent to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on his personal Facebook page.
Makhlouf entitled his message “from servant of slaves to the president of the country.” In it, he explained how a class of what he called “war merchants” had removed and replaced national investors.
“They (war merchants) began practicing authoritarian and subversive tactics to control the entire Syrian economy,” Makhlouf said, noting that they enjoy the benefit of a “terrifying security cover.”
The business mogul added that individuals who got rich during the war have attempted to edge out Syria’s traditional investors and industrialists and dominate the war-torn country’s economy.
He also complained about how national businessmen, like himself, were being pursued by authorities and having their assets seized.
“Throughout the sabotage, we sent several warnings on the consequences of these measures, how they terrify everyone, and harm confidence in Syria, and thus destroy the economy,” Makhlouf said in a special address to his maternal cousin, Assad.
He said that the pressure by authorities had caused “the layoffs of tens of thousands of employees and workers” and emptied the country from merchants and industrialists.
The fallout was negatively reflected in the reluctance to deal with Syria and citizens suffering from great shortages.
Makhlouf called for “stopping all the mechanisms used by war merchants, returning to collective action, holding culprits and their accomplices accountable, preventing security services from interfering in the daily life of the citizen and limiting their role to arresting agents, saboteurs, combating terrorism and contraband dealers.”
The tycoon also stressed the need to invite back everyone who left Syria.
Makhlouf also revealed that he is currently staying at his home and that he will not yield to the pressure of war merchants.
“I will not leave him without standing,” he said.
