Spy chief and billionaire plot Syrian uprisings

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now.

One Essential Read

Recommended by Kate Turton, Newsletter Editor

Assad's exiled spy chief and billionaire cousin plot Syrian uprisings from Russia

Rami Makhlouf (left) and Kamal Hassan (right). REUTERS/Illustration/Catherine Tai; Source photos: REUTERS/Stringer and Facebook

Today's recommended special report reads like the plot of a spy novel. My colleagues revealed the competing schemes from exile in Moscow, where ex-intel chief Kamal Hassan and Assad cousin Rami Makhlouf are spending millions of dollars to build fighting forces that would lead a revolt along Syria's coast.

They are also vying for control of a network of 14 underground command rooms stocked with arms and ammunition that were built in the dictatorship's last days. Syria's government has deployed another former Assad insider – a childhood friend of the new president – to neutralize the plotters.

This is the latest special report in our Syria After Assad series.

Read our special report

Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website

Reuters One Essential Read is sent three days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here.

This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you've engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement.

Terms & Conditions