Syrian government hints at takeover of Syriatel after Makhlouf’s third video

North-Press Agency Damascus

On Sunday, the Syrian Organization for Communications Department said that the telecommunications company Syriatel is responsible for the legal and operational consequences of its decision to refuse to return the state payable rights back. This came hours after the company owner Rami Makhlouf published a video in which he attacked the Syrian government.

On its Facebook account, the department posted that the deadline set for Syriatel to pay its debts related to the reissuance of its license ended about two weeks ago.

The department added that Syriatel must bear all legal and operational consequences as a result of its decision to refuse to return the government payable rights back, according to its duty to collect public funds for the State Treasury, depending on legitimate legal methods.

This came after the Syrian businessman and Syriatel owner Rami Makhlouf published a video, the third of its kind, in which he revealed deep disagreements between him and his nephew, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

"The telecommunications department asked for part of the company's profits under the threat of imprisonment, and to hand over the company," Makhlouf said in relation to Syriatel.

At the beginning of May, the Syrian government arrested two Syriatel employees in a way Makhlouf described as “inhumane.”

Makhlouf said that in return for releasing the arrested employees, the government gave him a period to pay the required debts, abandon his position, and withdraw Syriatel’s license.