Firas Tlass

Firas Mustafa Tlass (Arabic: فراس مصطفى طلاس‎) (born 20 August 1960) is a Syrian business tycoon and a member of a significant Sunni family who had close relations with former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, but defected to the rebels during the Syrian Civil War.

Firas Tlass
Born
Firas Mustafa Tlass

(1960-08-20) 20 August 1960
Damascus, Syria
NationalitySyrian
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1980s – present
Spouse(s)Rania Al-Jabiri (1984-2012)
Lubna Alsoufi
Children5
Parent(s)Mustafa Tlass (father)
RelativesManaf Tlass (brother)
Websitefirastlass.com

Early life and education

Firas Tlass was born in Damascus on 20 August 1960.[1] He is the second eldest child of Mustafa Tlass, a former Syrian Minister of Defense from 1972 to 2004[1][2] of Circassian and Turkish origin.[3] Next to the Assad clan, his family was the most famous Sunni family in Syria, known for supporting the government.[4] On the other hand, the members of his family worked for the Ottoman suzerains as well as French occupiers after the First World War.[5] Manaf Tlass, who was a senior military official and defected in July 2012, is his younger brother.[4]

He attended Ecole Laique in Damascus, graduating in 1978. He studied business administration at Damascus University, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in economy in 1984. He went to France to study French and obtained a degree in commerce from Paris.[1]

Career

Firas Tlass is described as a business tycoon[6] and Syria's sugar king.[7] He was one of the richest in Syria.[4] Firas Tlass was a significant supporter and also, beneficiary of Bashar al-Assad's liberal economy policies over the past decade.[8] [9]

Firas Tlass founded Min Ajl Suriyya (MAS) (“For Syria” in English) in 1984. MAS deals with different commercial activities, ranging from roasting coffee beans to producing metal, canned food, and dairy products.[1][10] In 2004, Tlass also began to provide financial assistance to the website Syria News that was owned by the Syrian Economic Center (SEC).[9] In 2010, he launched EFG Hermes Syria with EFG Hermes, the leading Egyptian investment bank in the Arab world.[11] It was reported that EFG Hermes Syria was a partnership between EFG Hermes (70%) and Firas Tlass (30%).[12][13] Tlass became the chairman of the firm.[13] Additionally, Tlass was the local joint venture partner for French cement company Lafarge.[11] He is also Chairman of Palmyra-SODIC.[14] His other business activity is the Palmyra real estate development company, of which he is the general manager.[15]

Since 1999 Firas Tlass started some business relations with Iraq and participated in some commercial and industrial contracts between Syria and Iraq.

Firas Tlass is a former member of the Ba'ath Party.[16] However, in 2005, he and another Baath member, Abdel Nour, argued that they supported multi-party elections and ending the Baath monopoly on power in Syria.[16] Firas Tlass also said that the relations with the US should be better.[16] Until his defection, he and his brother Manaf Tlass were regarded by Bashar al-Assad as peers and friends.[17]

Controversy

In 2012-2014 LafargeHolcim's factory in Jalabiya, northern Syria, continued to operate as the Syrian war raged around it. Factory chief Bruno Pescheux has admitted Lafarge paid up to $100,000 a month to Syrian tycoon Firas Tlass, a former minority shareholder who gave cash to armed factions in order to keep the factory open.[18]

Defection and views

It was reported by AFP that Firas and his father, former defense minister Mustafa Tlass, arrived in Paris in March 2012. But their move was not seen as a defection.[19] However, there is another report on his defection. It states that Mustafa Tlas and his son, Firas, both left Syria since the revolt against Assad began in 2011.[20] It is added that Mustafa Tlass left for France for what he described as medical treatment, while Firas left Syria for Egypt in 2011.[20] There is another report, indicating that Firas is in Dubai.[21] It is also argued that Firas in France with his father.[22] There is another report, arguing that Firas travels between the United Arab Emirates and France.[23] His younger brother Manaf Tlass, a Syrian officer, defected from the Assad government and fled to Turkey and on 6 July 2012, he went to France from Turkey.[20][22]

On 26 July 2012, Firas Tlass expressed his support for Bashar Al Assad's resignation. He further declared that he had provided the Farouq Brigades in the Free Syrian Army, commanded by his cousin Abdul Razzak Tlass, with the humanitarian and relief aid.[24] On 8 March 2013, he told Al Arabiya that Syria had had secret business deals with Israel.[25]

Personal life

Tlass is married to Lubna Alsoufi, a member of one of the leading Sunni families from Lattakia.

He was married before to Rania Al Jabiri since 1984 until they divorced in March 2012. He has five children with her: Yara (born 1989), Mira and Lara (twins, born 1991), Yasmine (born 1998) and Mustafa (born 2000).[1]

References
  1. "Personal Profile". Firas Tlass.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2004. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  2. Briscoe, Ivan; Floor Janssen Rosan Smits (November 2012). "Stability and economic recovery after Assad: key steps for Syria's post-conflict transition" (PDF). Clingendael: 1–51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 November 2012.
  3. Batatu, Hanna (1999), Syria's Peasantry, the Descendants of Its Lesser Rural Notables, and Their Politics, Princeton University Press, p. 218 (Table 18–1), ISBN 978-1400845842
  4. Olmert, Josef (6 July 2012). "With Tlass Defection Bashar Assad's Troubles Are Mounting". Huffington Post. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  5. Kechichian, Joseph A. (27 July 2012). "Syria is bigger than individuals, says defected brigadier". Gulf News. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  6. Neil MacFarquhar (6 July 2012). "Military Confidante of Syria's Assad Is Reported to Have Defected". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  7. Moukheiber, Zina (30 March 2011). "President Assad and The Syrian Business Elite". Forbes. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  8. Elizabeth Palmer; Khaled Wassef (6 July 2012). "Syrian Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass not first in his powerful family to defect". CBS. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  9. Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF). Comparative Strategy. 25 (5): 353–445. doi:10.1080/01495930601105412. S2CID 154739379. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  10. "The story behind the defection of Syrian general Manaf Tlas". Al Arabiya. 8 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  11. Abigail Fielding-Smith; Simeon Kerr (6 July 2012). "Assad sees childhood friend leave". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  12. "EFG Hermes expands into Syria, launches Syrian private equity fund". AMEinfo. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  13. "News in brief". Daily News Egypt. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  14. "Director's Bio". Palmyra Sodic. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  15. "Honorary shield for Palmyra real estate". Jasmine Hills. 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  16. Biedermann, Ferry (8 June 2005). "All Set For A Great Shuffle Forward". Inter Press Service. Damascus. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  17. Hinnebusch, Raymond (2011). "The Ba'th Party in Post-Ba'thist Syria: President, Party and the Struggle for 'Reform'". Middle East Critique. 20 (2): 109–125. doi:10.1080/19436149.2011.572408. S2CID 144573563.
  18. "Former LafargeHolcim CEO charged over terror financing allegations". France 24. 8 December 2017.
  19. "Syrian former defence minister Tlass in France". Agence France-Presse. 12 March 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  20. Oweis, Khaled Yacoub (5 July 2012). "Newsmaker: Syrian general breaks from Assad's inner circle". Reuters. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  21. Julian Borger; Martin Chulov (5 July 2012). "Top Syrian general 'defects to Turkey'". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
  22. Malas, Nour (6 July 2012). "Defected Syrian General Heads to Paris as Diplomats Meet". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  23. Karam, Zaina (6 July 2012). "Syrian defector _ regime insider from Sunni family". AJC. AP. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  24. Al Hindi, Omar (26 July 2012). "The life and times of the defecting Syrian army man, Manaf Tlas". Al Arabiya. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  25. Miller, Elhanan (7 March 2013). "Assad's Syria sold Israel oil, businessman claims". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
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