Paris investigates French assets of Assad’s uncle

{{Paris prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation Monday into the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, whom anti-corruption groups accuse of illegally obtaining a vast fortune and property empire.}}

A judicial source told media the investigation had been opened into Rifaat al-Assad, the brother of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez, after a criminal complaint filed on September 13.

The complaint, by anti-corruption groups Sherpa and Transparency International, alleges the 76-year-old illegally acquired “extraordinary wealth” in France through corrupt schemes and embezzlement.

Once a stalwart of the Syrian authorities, Rifaat al-Assad broke with his brother’s government in 1984 and reportedly has no links with the current regime, which is fighting in a civil conflict that has left more than 110,000 dead since it began in March 2011.

Before splitting from the regime, Rifaat al-Assad was accused of being responsible for the deaths of thousands during the crushing of a Sunni Islamist uprising in 1982.

The massacre in the town of Hama, by troops allegedly under Rifaat al-Assad’s command, left between 10,000 and 25,000 dead.

Rifaat al-Assad has denied any involvement and in 2011 dismissed allegations he was behind the killings as “a myth”.

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