While informed sources told Reuters two days ago that al-Sharaa had rebuked some officials for displays of extravagance and luxury cars, and issued an order to close the office of his brother Jamal al-Sharaa, some attendees spoke of a completely different picture.
In contrast, Jamal al-Sharaa issued a statement yesterday denying that he owns any business office in Damascus or conducts any meetings with businessmen or officials, considering what was circulated to be “fabrications and distortion of facts.”
For his part, the Director of Political Affairs in Rif Dimashq, Ahmed Muhammad Deeb To’meh, confirmed that what was stated in the “Reuters” report lacked accuracy, explaining in a post on the “X” platform on Friday evening that he attended the entire meeting and did not hear what was attributed to the president regarding luxury cars.
For his part, former Minister of Communications Hussein al-Masry, one of the participants in the meeting, clarified that what was reported about the session was “untrue,” noting in a post on his “Facebook” page that the meeting was “lengthy and positive, and included general advice and guidance on the Syrian reality,” in addition to “directions not to crowd out investors, and to form a committee to follow up on this file and inventory the assets and funds of officials.”
As for the first account published by “Reuters,” it quoted informed sources as saying that al-Sharaa reprimanded a number of officials during the meeting held on the thirtieth of August in the presence of high-ranking security officials, and ordered civilian employees who own expensive cars to hand over their keys immediately or face an investigation into the sources of their illicit wealth.
For its part, the Syrian Ministry of Information clarified that the meeting was friendly and informal, and dealt with “the political and security challenges and the need to change the investment culture established by the former regime.”
