A US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last week cited Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his advisor, Ghattas Khoury, as telling a US official on February 11, 2008 that Syrian Director of Military Intelligence Asaf Shawkat helped transfer $50 million for OTV television in Qatar under the names of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s daughters.
Hariri and Khoury also “alleged that Rami Makhlouf, first cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had assisted the Syrian president in moving funds out of Syria to Dubai.”
According to the cable, Hariri and Khoury also asked for the US to designate Makhlouf and Shawkat (as regime insiders who improperly benefits from and aids the public corruption of Syrian officials) “as a means of punishing Syria for its interference in Lebanon and because their activities in promoting corruption.” Now Lebanon
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