Fawaz al-Akhras was sanctioned for providing support to Assad.
On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions on the father-in-law of deposed Syrian President Bashar Assad. The decision came after rebels led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group seized the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, with Assad and his family fleeing to Moscow. TASR informs about it based on the AFP report.
In a statement, the US Treasury Department announced that Fawaz al-Akhras had been placed on the sanctions list for providing support and assistance to Bashar al-Assad in connection with his financial affairs, his efforts to evade sanctions and his attempts to return to the international political scene.
Akhras has dual citizenship of Syria and the United Kingdom
Akhras was born in the Syrian city of Homs in September 1946 and has dual citizenship of Syria and the United Kingdom, according to a list of sanctioned persons published by the ministry. Akhras studied cardiology and practiced medicine in London, where his daughter Asmá – the wife of the deposed president – was born, writes AFP.
After marrying Asad, Asmá, originally an investment banker, began to devote herself to charity projects. She was the patron of the program called Obete vlasti, which aims to ensure and provide rehabilitation to war veterans so that they can return to normal life. Opposition activists have argued for years that Asma Assad is complicit in the atrocities committed by the Assad government during Syria’s civil war.
The US imposed sanctions on Akhras, his wife, daughter Asma and several other family members already in 2020, AFP reminds.
