Syria's Justice Ministry on Thursday announced a travel ban on Rami Makhlouf, a Syrian businessman and cousin of President Bashar Al Assad, over money it says he owes the state.
Mr Makhlouf, the head of Syria's largest mobile operator Syriatel, has been grappling with authorities over demands that the company pay $185 million (Dh679.5m).
Syria's telecommunications authority has threatened to take all necessary measures to recover the money, which it says Syriatel owes for maintaining its operating licence.
But Mr Makhlouf has called the claims undue and unjust.
On Thursday, the ministry published on its Facebook page a court order "temporarily banning the defendant from travelling abroad" until the case was resolved or outstanding payments were made to the authority.
The document, signed on May 20, said the ban was requested by the Telecoms Minister and the general manager of the authority in a lawsuit they filed against Mr Makhlouf.
"The court finds that it is likely the defendant is indebted in light of the documents presented," by the plaintiffs, the ministry said.
Mr Makhlouf, who also has stakes in electricity, oil and property, said on Tuesday that the telecoms authority was seizing his assets and those of his family.
He said he also received notice from the government that he would be "banned from working with the state for five years".
Mr Makhlouf, who had kept a low profile throughout Syria's nine-year war, responded with online attacks against Syrian authorities in recent weeks.
At the end of April and again in early May, he said that some people in government were out to get him and his company.
Analysts say this suggests a growing isolation from the centres of power, including Mr Al Assad.
Signs of a dispute emerged last summer when Syrian authorities seized Mr Makhlouf's Al Bustan charity and dissolved militias affiliated to him.
The Finance Ministry in December froze the assets of several businessmen over tax evasion and illicit enrichment, and the Syrian press said Mr Makhlouf, his wife and companies were among them.
In recent weeks, Syrian security services have detained several of his employees in a move he says is meant to intimidate him into stepping down from his businesses.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said from Britain that dozens of employees from Al Bustan and Syriatel have been arrested since April.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AT%20A%20GLANCE
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Defined benefit and defined contribution schemes explained
Defined Benefit Plan (DB)
A defined benefit plan is where the benefit is defined by a formula, typically length of service to and salary at date of leaving.
Defined Contribution Plan (DC)
A defined contribution plan is where the benefit depends on the amount of money put into the plan for an employee, and how much investment return is earned on those contributions.
