How is Bashar Assad Involved in the Kidnapping of his Wife’s Cousin?

However some sources suggested Tarif’s kidnapping was an act of revenge from Bashar Assad and his wife and it was planned by Assad’s cousin, Rami Makhlouf, with whom he had been at odds with.

Earlier in August, Bashar Assad reportedly ordered a series of measures against companies owned by his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, in Syria. The measures involve Makhlouf’s shares in the state-owned Syrian Telecom Company (Syriatel), the country’s biggest mobile phone operator.

While details of the conflict are not clear, rumors suggest the conflict was prompted by Makhlouf’s refusal to provide large sums of money to Assad after Moscow twisted his hand.

Assad then formed a “committee tasked with fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism to start an investigation of 29 of the most powerful businessmen in Syria, including that of Makhlouf,” according to a local website.