Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf said Sunday that authorities had set a deadline for him to resign from the country's leading mobile operator Syriatel or it would revoke the company's license, but that he would not step down.
In a video, the third the businessmen has issued bringing into the open a deep rift with his cousin President Bashar al Assad, Makhlouf also said the collapse of Syriatel, a main revenue earner for the government, would deal a "catastrophic" blow to the economy.
Makhlouf was part of the president’s inner circle and has played a big role in financing Assad's war effort, Western officials have said, citing his business empire which includes telecoms, real estate, construction and oil trading.
"If you don't comply ... the license will be revoked and they said you have until Sunday to either comply or the company will be taken and its assets seized," Makhlouf said.
It was not clear when the video was taken and if he meant this Sunday or next.
"You are, by this, destroying the economy of Syria," Makhlouf added.
This month he accused security forces of arresting his employees in an "inhumane way" in an unprecedented attack from within the system by one of the country's most influential figures.
The value of the Syrian pound (Lira) has been in hysterical dwindling on Sunday following Makhlouf's defiant statements.
Dealers said it cost as much as 1760 Syrian pounds in the capital to buy one dollar on the street on Tuesday while it cost as much as 1840 pounds in opposition-held areas.
Syria is in the thick of a grinding economic crisis that has seen its pound hit record lows against the dollar, while inflation has soared, plunging most of the population into poverty.
The pound had enjoyed almost two years of relative stability after Moscow alongside Iranian-backed militias turned the tide in favor of Assad by pushing rebels from large swathes of territory in western and eastern Syria, according to Reuters.
The pound had traded at 47 to the dollar before protests against the Assad regime erupted in March 2011.
(Zaman Al Wasl with Agencies)
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