The Syrian government deny recent information regarding closing office of the Syrian transitional president’s brother and confiscating luxury cars from figures close to the regime

Media reports, including a Reuters report regarding a meeting that was hold in Idlib province, which was attended by Syrian transitional President Ahmed al Sharaa, sparked a wave of official responses after reports regarding reprimanding Syrian officials who arrived to the meeting in luxury cars.

As explained by Ahmed Muhammad Deeb Ta’meh, Director of Political Affairs in Rural Damascus, the meeting held in late August in Idlib didn’t address the issue of luxury cars at all, stressing that the report contained false and baseless information.

For his part, former Minister of Communications Hussein al Masri – one of the participants in the meeting – denied the validity of those accounts, indicating via a post on his Facebook page that the session was positive and constructive, and witnessed general discussions about the political and economic conditions, in addition to recommendations regarding encouraging investment and preventing conflicts of interest.

These statements come after media reports indicated that Sharaa had sharply criticized a number of officials for their excessive displays of wealth, demanding that they hand over the keys to their luxury cars and threatening to open investigations into the sources of their wealth.

However, the Syrian Ministry of Information issued a statement denying those claims, stressing that the meeting was characterized by a friendly atmosphere and focused on discussing current political and economic challenges, and the need to establish a new investment culture that aligns with the priorities of the next stage.

In another context, Jamal al Sharaa, the president’s brother, denied the information contained in the report, asserting in an official statement that what was circulated about him owning a business office in Damascus or holding meetings with businessmen and government officials was “pure fabrication and distortion of the facts”.