Rifaat al-Assad 'Avoids' French Prison

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle Rifaat al-Assad (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle Rifaat al-Assad (AP)
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Rifaat al-Assad 'Avoids' French Prison

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle Rifaat al-Assad (AP)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle Rifaat al-Assad (AP)

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has allowed his uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, to return to the country “to avoid imprisonment in France”, after a few decades in exile.

Syrian Al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday that Rifaat al-Assad, 84, returned to Damascus after spending nearly 30 years in Europe as a dissident.

He arrived in Damascus on Thursday, nearly a month after a Paris appeals court upheld a four-year prison sentence issued against him last year for misappropriating public funds in Syria, laundering the spoils and building a vast property portfolio in France with illegal gains.

His confiscated French real estate assets are worth an estimated 90 million euros ($106 million).

“In order to prevent his imprisonment in France… President Assad rises above what Rifaat al-Assad has said and done and allows him to return to Syria,” al-Watan said.

Firas, Rifaat al-Assad’s son, said on his Facebook page that his father’s return to Syria came following a “deal between French and Russian intelligence and the Syrian regime.”



US Sanctions Russia-Based Network for Helping Yemen’s Houthis

Houthi supporters attend a protest against US airstrikes on Houthi positions, on al-Quds Day in Sanaa, Yemen, 28 March 2025. (EPA)
Houthi supporters attend a protest against US airstrikes on Houthi positions, on al-Quds Day in Sanaa, Yemen, 28 March 2025. (EPA)
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US Sanctions Russia-Based Network for Helping Yemen’s Houthis

Houthi supporters attend a protest against US airstrikes on Houthi positions, on al-Quds Day in Sanaa, Yemen, 28 March 2025. (EPA)
Houthi supporters attend a protest against US airstrikes on Houthi positions, on al-Quds Day in Sanaa, Yemen, 28 March 2025. (EPA)

The United States imposed sanctions on Wednesday on Russia-based people and entities working to help procure weapons and commodities - including stolen Ukrainian grain - for Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, the Treasury Department said.

The operatives, who included Russia-based Afghan businessman Hushang Ghairat and his brother, Russia-based Afghan businessman Sohrab Ghairat, helped senior Houthi official Sa’id al-Jamal, procure millions of dollars’ worth of commodities from Russia for shipment to Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen, Treasury said.

The goods included weapons and sensitive goods, as well as stolen Ukrainian grain, the department said in a statement.

"The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal and his network to procure critical goods to supply the group’s terrorist war machine," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Today’s action underscores our commitment to degrading the Houthis’ ability to threaten the region through their destabilizing activities."