Syria is secretly reshaping its economy. The president's brother is in charge

Ya Libnan

3 days ago

Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa (center), is trying to rebuild the country's ravaged economy. To lead the effort, he has tapped his older brother, Hazem (left), who is quietly overseeing deals to take control of major companies. REUTERS/Photo illustration/Catherine Tai. Source photos: Saudi Press Agency and REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A Reuters investigation has found the new president's brother, Hazem al-Sharaa, along with a sanctioned Australian are in charge of untangling corruption. But to do so, they're making deals with businessmen many Syrians associate with years of ill-gotten gains.
By
Timour Azhari
and
Feras Dalatey
DAMASCUS – In the weeks after
Damascus fell
to Syria's rebels, a leading businessman got a late-night call to come see 'the sheikh.'
The address was familiar, a building where periodic shakedowns of businessmen like him occurred under Bashar al-Assad's
economic empire
.
But there were
new bosses
in town.
With a long, dark beard and a pistol on his waist, the sheikh gave only a fighter's pseudonym, Abu Mariam. Now the leader of a committee reshaping Syria's economy, he asked questions in courteous Arabic with a slight Australian twang.
'He asked me about my work, how much money we made,' the businessman said. 'I just kept looking at the gun.'
A Reuters investigation has found that Syria's new leadership is secretly restructuring an economy
broken by corruption
and
years of sanctions
against Assad's government, under the auspices of a group of men whose identities have until now been concealed under
pseudonyms
. The committee's mission: decipher the legacy of the Assad-era economy, then decide what to restructure and what to retain.
Away from public scrutiny, the committee obtained assets worth more than $1.6 billion. That tally is based on accounts of people familiar with its deals to acquire business stakes and cash seizures, including at least $1.5 billion in assets taken from three businessmen, and firms in a conglomerate once controlled by Assad's inner circle, like the country's main telecoms operator, worth at least $130 million.
The man overseeing Syria's economic restructuring is Hazem al-Sharaa, the older brother of the new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, Reuters has found. And the leader of the committee, Abu Mariam al-Australi, is Abraham Succarieh, an Australian of Lebanese descent named on his home country's list of
sanctioned individuals
for alleged terrorism financing. He describes himself online as a cricket- and shawarma-loving businessman.
Syria's new government has dismantled Assad's much-feared
security apparatus,
and people can speak more freely than they have in decades. But the mix of family and men known only by noms de guerre who now run Syria's economy has concerned many businessmen, diplomats and analysts, who say they fear
one palace oligarchy
is being replaced with another.
The Reuters investigation drew upon interviews with more than 100 businessmen, intermediaries, politicians, diplomats and researchers, as well as a trove of documents including financial records, emails, meeting minutes and new company registrations.
The committee's work, and even its existence, have never been announced by the government and are unknown to the general Syrian public. Only those with direct dealings are aware of its mandate, which has the potential to touch the lives and livelihoods of all Syrians and beyond, as the country tries to reintegrate into the global economy.
One committee member told Reuters the scale of corruption under Assad, built on corporate structures designed as much to skim assets as to make money, has left few options for economic reform. The committee could take businessmen suspected of ill-gotten gains to court as many Syrians demand, seize companies outright, or make private deals with Assad-era figures still under international sanctions.
All carry risks of further pitting Syrians
against each other
– rich against poor, and those who prospered under Assad against those who suffered. Rather than take businessmen who profited from the Assad era to court or seize their companies, the committee decided to negotiate to recoup much-needed cash and establish control over the
levers of the economy
, allowing it to function without disruption.
Syria's government, Hazem al-Sharaa and Succarieh did not respond to repeated requests for comment or reply to questions for this story. The president's office referred questions to the Information Ministry. Reuters presented the findings of this report during an in-person meeting last week with the information minister and laid out its details and posed questions in writing to the ministry. The ministry didn't respond before publication.
Over seven months, the committee has negotiated with the wealthiest Syrian tycoons, including some who are under U.S. sanctions. The committee has also made headway taking over a constellation of companies that were run out of Assad's palace, the sources said.
Many tycoons linked to Assad, including an airline mogul sanctioned in connection with drug and weapons smuggling, and a businessman accused of scavenging and smelting metal from Syrian towns depopulated by Assad's army, are keeping some profits and avoiding state prosecution, for a price. But that bargain, amnesty in exchange for a mix of cash and corporate control, risks angering Syrians seeking justice.
Four senior Western diplomats said the concentration of economic power in the hands of shadow figures of unknown backgrounds also could impede foreign investment and credibility as Syria
tries to rejoin
the global financial system.
The committee has met dozens of people, sometimes exonerating them, other times seeking a portion of their wealth, said the member who spoke about its activities. Ultimately, he said, ordinary Syrians will benefit when the companies are privatized, put up for public-private partnerships or nationalized, with proceeds going into a sovereign wealth fund.
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On July 9, President Sharaa announced the formation of a sovereign fund answering to the presidency. Three people familiar with the fund said it would be overseen by his brother. That same day, Sharaa unveiled the creation of a development fund headed by a longtime associate of Hazem. The president also recently issued amendments to the investment law by decree. Although neither Hazem nor Succarieh have an announced government role, Reuters has found that the two edited the final text of the amendments.
Nb
Steven Heydemann, a professor of Middle East Studies at Smith College in Massachusetts, told Reuters that a Syrian sovereign wealth fund is a
'premature' idea
. He criticized its reliance on vague 'inactive assets,' and warned that granting autonomy to the fund's management — including the president — undermines accountability.
The details about the new government's secretive policy efforts come as the U.S. government is lifting economic sanctions on the Syrian state that date back to the Assad era. Asked to comment for this report, a State Department official said U.S. President Donald Trump is lifting the sanctions 'to give Syria a chance at greatness.'
'The President has also been clear that President al-Sharaa should take advantage of this historic opportunity to make important progress,' the official told Reuters in a statement.
A BAKER IN THE BANK
The prominent role of the committee deciphering
Syria's economy
builds upon the authority its members had to manage money in Idlib, the hilly northern enclave where Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former militant Islamist group known as HTS, consolidated power under Sharaa's leadership.
Those living and especially fighting in Idlib habitually used pseudonyms, including President al-Sharaa, then the HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani. HTS originated as the
Nusra Fron
t, the Syrian arm of Al Qaeda, and much of the world viewed its leaders as terrorists until they ousted Assad in December.
After breaking from Al Qaeda in 2016, HTS developed financial and governing structures, according to Syrians familiar with the group. In 2018, it created Watad, a petroleum company with exclusive rights to import fuel derivatives from Turkey, as well as its own bank, Sham Bank.
Behind the HTS foray into business was Abu Abdelrahman, a former baker turned senior military commander, the committee member and two senior HTS officials told Reuters.
They said Abu Abdelrahman established Idlib's economic committee, initially an ad-hoc group of a few men loyal to Ahmed al-Sharaa. Abu Abdelrahman has overseen the committee's evolution into an institution comprising dozens of people, from accountants and lawyers to negotiators and enforcers, they said. It exists outside formal state structures.
The committee developed an economic wing focused on making money, headed by Abu Mariam, and a financial wing to manage those funds, led by Abu Abdelrahman, the sources said.
Abu Abdelrahman's real name is Mustafa Qadid, according to three HTS sources. He set himself up on the second floor of Syria's central bank the day after Damascus fell, two former employees said. Qadid did not respond to a request for comment via his top aide, who acknowledged receipt of a write-up of Reuters' findings.
Abu Abdelrahman has become known to some Syrian officials and bankers as the 'shadow governor,' with veto power over decisions by the official governor two floors above him.
Presented with Reuters' findings about the economic reshaping and Abu Abdelrahman's role, the governor, Abdulkader Husriyeh, the governor of the Central Bank of Syria, wrote in a message, 'This is not true.' He did not respond to requests to elaborate.
The two former employees said major decisions require signoff by Abu Abdelrahman, whom they described as mild-mannered but favoring power centralization. 'It's just like before, when the palace decided all matters,' said one of them.
One visitor months ago was bewildered to be introduced to Abu Abdelrahman. Like Abu Mariam, he was referred to as 'the sheikh.' The term sheikh has a religious connotation but is also an honorific.
The real name of the other 'sheikh,' Abu Mariam, is Abraham Succarieh, Reuters found. Succarieh left his native Brisbane in 2013 one day before his brother Ahmed detonated a truck bomb at a Syrian army checkpoint, Australian prosecutors said, becoming the first known Australian suicide bomber in Syria. A third Succarieh sibling, Omar, was sentenced in 2016 to 4 1⁄2 years in prison in Australia after pleading guilty to charges of sending tens of thousands of dollars to the Nusra Front.
The brothers' activities are described in
documents
submitted by Australian prosecutors to the country's Supreme Court in response to Omar's appeal of his sentence. Reuters was unable to locate Omar; his former lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment.
Australia's government confirmed Abraham Succarieh remains under sanctions but declined to say if it was aware of his current role, citing a policy against commenting on individuals due to privacy considerations.
He goes by yet another pseudonym on X, Ibrahim Bin Mas'ud, according to six people who know him personally. The Bin Mas'ud profile describes him as a 'Business Owner,' 'Shawarma Lover' and 'Cricket Fan.' The account posts on the toll of the war in Idlib and Islamic teachings.
Succarieh was a fiercely competitive cricket player in Australia, according to a former teammate in Australia who knew him in his youth, and still discusses the sport online. He has also done English-language podcasts touching on issues such as Iranian influence in the Middle East and how enthusiastically Muslims should perceive Morocco's stunning fourth-place finish in the 2022 World Cup.
Requests for comment to Succarieh about his role in reshaping Syria's economy or the other findings of this report via a direct message to his X account and to his top aide went unanswered.
Hazem al-Sharaa, the president's brother, is a former PepsiCo general manager in the Iraqi city of Erbil, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was a key supplier of soft drinks to Idlib, according to two people familiar with his past. Pepsico did not respond to a request for comment about the elder al-Sharaa's work at the company or whether Pepsi was aware of his past activities or current role.
Hazem al-Sharaa now oversees the economic committee's work as part of his wide authority over business and investment matters in the new Syria. He holds no announced government position but appeared beside his brother on a February official
visit to Saudi Arabia
. Hazem al-Sharaa was first in line to be introduced by his brother to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to video filmed by Saudi state media, though he wasn't identified in official readouts of the meeting.
Arriving in Damascus in December, the committee initially set up at the Four Seasons hotel, home to the United Nations mission in Syria and foreign dignitaries, according to a hotel employee and two Syrians familiar with the matter.
Committee members, as well as other HTS officials, were given rooms and suites free of charge, according to two people familiar with the arrangement.
A well-stocked bar at the dimly lit Four Seasons cigar lounge was removed to accommodate the sheikhs and private meetings, including settlement talks, according to hotel staff and several people familiar with the change.
The hotel has not been operated by the Four Seasons company since 2019, the company said. That is the same year the United States
sanctioned
its owner, Samer Foz. Foz had no comment for this report.
The committee gradually relocated to offices previously used by prominent tycoons and Assad's economy czar, Yasar Ibrahim, who has
resided in the UAE
since Assad's ouster. Ibrahim didn't respond to requests for comment.
Members quickly decided against suing businessmen suspected of ill-gotten gains because 'we would be playing in their court,' the committee member said. Though some judges lost their jobs after Assad's fall, many remain on the bench, and the new government feared being outmaneuvered by businessmen adept at working the court system, or lacking evidence for convictions in complex financial cases, according to the member and an auditor familiar with the talks.
They said outright seizures were rejected, to avoid scaring off potential investors. Syria has a history of nationalizations dating to its brief union with Egypt in 1958 and continuing during the civil war, when the Assad government confiscated property belonging to opposition figures.
That left the option of striking deals with the businessmen, getting them to relinquish assets in exchange for being allowed to return to work in Syria. The new government would also benefit from their expert knowledge.
Syria's new rulers 'are not Fidel Castro,' the dictator who nationalized much of the Cuban economy, said a banker familiar with the talks. 'Much more Machiavelli.'
And so the new Syrian leadership began to untangle the Assad-era economy, which was largely split between tycoons who held major sectors in exchange for kickbacks to Assad and his inner circle, and the corporate empire run for Assad by economy magnate Ibrahim.
The empire was known to insiders as 'The Group.'
In 2020, Assad appeared victorious in the civil war, thanks to
Russian and Iranian
support.
By then, the palace had established a constellation of more than 100 companies it dubbed Al Ahed, according to a person involved in the plans from their inception and corporate documents. Assad government officials and cronies shared in the profits of the companies with their tycoon owners. It was all overseen by Ibrahim. After Assad fell, the ownership structure appeared even murkier.
The Arabic word Al Ahed has several meanings, including 'The Reign' and 'The Pledge.'
Reuters reviewed an unpublished ad from 2020, intended for a general audience, that directly links Assad to Al Ahed and describes it as a private company that's helping Syria recover from war.
The video ad shows aerial footage of a Syrian city with collapsed buildings and cowering refugees, then pivots with rousing music to images of construction, abundant fields and production lines.
'Sometimes, you can beat war with a smile, or someone who can wipe all of the sadness off your face,' the narrator says, as footage shows Bashar and his wife, Asma, brushing tears off a child's cheek. 'We decided to push on and create a new reality that resembles our dreams.'
A slide from an internal presentation given to Assad's inner circle in 2021 shows the cluster of real businesses and shell companies established under Al Ahed to control key economic sectors, including telecoms, banking, real estate and energy.
As Damascus fell on December 8,
Ibrahim fled
. His sister, Nesreen, lamented The Group's loss of control.
'We no longer have any connection to any of the companies. Let them run these companies as they see fit,' Nesreen wrote to associates, according to a WhatsApp message seen by Reuters. She couldn't be reached for comment.
The committee obtained the presentation and has used it to guide takeovers, the Assad-era flag replaced with the new one, according to a copy of the updated document seen by Reuters.
Reinoud Leenders, a professor at King's College London familiar with Syria's political economy, said that Ibrahim penetrated virtually all of Syria's economic sectors and may have controlled up to 30% of the country's total output by 2024. The World Bank estimated Syria's gross domestic product at $6.2 billion in 2023, around one-tenth of its pre-war level.
A former Group financial director put the combined value of its core operations at up to $900 million. But it also accrued other assets, like Syria's main telecom company, Syriatel, via partnerships Assad imposed on tycoons, cannibalizing the economy as the war wore on.
Those partnerships included the U.S.-sanctioned sugar and property baron Samer Foz and multi-sector tycoon Mohammed Hamsho, as well as Mohammad and Hussam Qaterji, brothers who ran vast oil and wheat operations.
Managing The Group's finances initially proved difficult for the committee. That's because only one person – Ahmed Khalil, an associate of Assad economy czar Ibrahim – had legal access to the bank accounts, according to three senior managers from The Group.
The committee asked Khalil and Ibrahim to surrender 80% of the empire in exchange for immunity, people familiar with the matter say, but talks faltered. Neither man responded to requests for comment, nor did the Qaterji brothers. Hamsho denied any wrongdoing.
Even without Ibrahim's cooperation, the committee made headway by striking deals with middle management.
A key member of Ibrahim's staff said he handed over data in exchange for immunity.
A second financial officer in The Group, who has also been working with the committee for months, said at least half of the Assad-era corporate empire has now been taken over. That includes the main telecoms company, Syriatel. It is now controlled by the committee through a member appointed as a signatory, according to a corporate registration document seen by Reuters. Syriatel said some of the Reuters findings were incorrect but did not respond to requests to elaborate.
The U.S. State Department official said the U.S. sanctions that remain in place are there to promote accountability.
'Broad and enduring stability in Syria will depend on advancing meaningful justice and accountability for abuses by all parties over the past 14 years,' the official said.RLINE?
Some of The Group's largest companies have since resumed operations under new names, according to three sources aware of the matter and a document reviewed by Reuters.
That includes Cham Wings, Syria's only private airline.
The carrier converted into a new company, Fly Cham, under a settlement with owner Issam Shammout, according to three senior aviation sources, a Cham Wings employee and a corporate record reviewed by Reuters.
Cham Wings and Shammout are under U.S. and
European Union sanctions
for alleged involvement in flying mercenaries to Libya and illegal migrants to Belarus, transporting weapons and trafficking the narcotic Captagon.
In exchange for immunity from state prosecution, Shammout gave up 45% of the company, according to the document. He also paid $50 million and handed over two aircraft to state-owned Syrian Air, the aviation sources said. The remaining three planes, all Airbus A320s, were repainted in Fly Cham colors but kept their tail numbers.
Shammout kept his automobile concession, Shammout Auto, the sources said.
A Cham Wings spokesperson declined to comment. A spokesperson for Fly Cham said: 'Cham Wings is closed. Fly Cham is a totally new company.' A later statement suggested Reuters contact the committee directly.
Sameh Orabi, general director of Syrian Air, told state news agency SANA in May that two new aircraft would join the national fleet but did not elaborate. A Cham Wings A320 with the tail identifier YK-BAG appeared in Syrian Air colors days later.
Some of the country's biggest tycoons have also struck deals.
Samer Foz, sanctioned by Washington in 2019 for allegedly profiting off Syria's war reconstruction, handed over around 80% of his commercial assets, valued at between $800 million and $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the deal. The deal included one of the Middle East's largest sugar refineries, an iron smelting plant and other factories, the person said.
Mohammed Hamsho, whose family enterprises encompass cable production, metalworks, electronics and film studios, handed over around 80% of his commercial assets, valued at more than $640 million, according to three people close to the deal.
He was left with around $150 million, and family members kept their companies, the people said.
As part of the deal, Hamsho surrendered a lucrative steel processing plant that had been partially taken over by The Group.
He has been accused by Syrian opposition and rights groups and businessmen of using the plant to process metal from neighborhoods demolished by Assad's forces.
The
U.S. Treasury Department
alleges he enriched himself through government connections and acting as a front for Assad's brother, Maher, who led the Syrian army's Fourth Division. Western governments have linked the Fourth Division to the illicit production and trade of Captagon, an amphetamine-like drug.
Hamsho returned to Syria in January and lives under state protection at his penthouse in Damascus' elite Malki neighborhood. Reuters journalists have repeatedly seen uniformed gunmen stationed in his entryway.
Hopes have been high that the fall of Assad would open a new chapter for Syria, but difficulties have accumulated for Ahmed al-Sharaa's government, most recently with bloodshed in the predominantly Druze south.
Amr Salem, a former trade minister and advisor to Assad, said the new government's pragmatic approach could benefit a broken country, but a lack of transparency and clear criteria for settlements is risking new abuses of power.
'I myself was asked to make a deal but refused, because I have done nothing wrong,' he told Reuters.
The deals have angered many Syrians who want to see prominent figures linked to Assad behind bars, triggering two small protests in June.
'It's insulting to Syrians. There is resentment in the Syrian street over the return of Assad's businessmen or anyone who worked hand in hand with Assad,' said Abdel Hamid Al-Assaf, an activist who has protested Hamsho's homecoming.
Contacted by Reuters, Hamsho confirmed he held talks with the committee, but said he would reserve other comment until a settlement is announced.
'I encourage business leaders and investors to look toward Syria,' he said. 'The country embraces a free-market economy and offers fertile ground for diverse and promising investment opportunities.'
Syria has gathered pledges of investment at a rapid pace. Saudi Arabia's investment minister led a business delegation to Syria for a two-day investment conference that began July 23, with up to $6 billion in potential deals on the table in major economic sectors.
As settlements conclude, some committee members have taken public positions. At least two were appointed to an official commission President Sharaa formed in May to manage some ill-gotten gains.
The committee member said this was part of an effort to make official the work that they have so far carried out in the shadows.
'It's a full rebranding, from inside and out,' he said.
Committee members' use of the honorific 'sheikh' is gradually being replaced by the Arabic equivalent of 'mister.' Calls and meetings still happen late at night, but the paperwork gets taken care of during business hours.
The committee men have also been told to don suits instead of khakis or casual wear, the member said, and they're under orders to keep their pistols out of sight.
Reuters