Wassim Anwar Al-Qattan (; born March 4, 1976), also known as ''Wassim Qattan'', is a Syrian businessman who holds several contracts with the

Government of Syria Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the President of Syria, president is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Syria, prime minister is the head of government. Execut ...

to develop government-owned shopping malls and hotel properties in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, Syria. He is President of the Rural Damascus Chamber of Commerce. He is reportedly close to

Maher al-Assad Maher al-Assad ( ar, مَاهِرُ ٱلْأَسَدِ, Māhir al-ʾAsad, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian general and commander of the Republican Guard and the army's elite Fourth Armoured Division, which together with Syria's secret police ...

, the brother of Syrian president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

. In February 2020, the European Union sanctioned Al-Qattan for providing material support to the Syrian government. In July 2020, the US Department of Treasury sanctioned Wassim Al-Qattan and entities associated with him for "providing material assistance in support of the Government of Syria." The Treasury alleged that Mr. al-Qattan has ties to regime figures and holds several contracts with the Syrian government to invest in and manage government-owned shopping malls and hotels in Damascus. Al-Qattan's reaction to the US Treasury sanctions was to celebrate on Facebook, describing them as a "third package of medals". He is also sanctioned by the UK Treasury.

Background

Wassim Al-Qattan is a Sunni from Damascus, Syria. Before 2011, he worked in an administrative position in

Syriatel Syriatel ( ar, سيريتل) is a mobile network provider in Syria. It is one of the only two providers in Syria, the other being MTN Syria MTN Syria is one of the two only mobile operators in Syria, the other being Syriatel. MTN Syria was pre ...

. In 2017, Al-Qattan was assigned the management contract of the Qassioum Shopping Mall, at an annual cost of SYB 1.2 billion. In 2018, the Syrian Ministry of Tourism awarded him a 45-year contract to develop prime real estate in Damascus, and management of the Massa Plaza mall.

References

Syrian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions 1976 births Living people Syrian businesspeople Sanctioned due to Syrian civil war Syrian oligarchs {{Syria-bio-stub Syrian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions Syrian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions Syrian Sunni Muslims