The United Nations paid at least $18 million last year to companies with close ties to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, some of them run by cronies who are on United States and European Union blacklists, according to a UN procurement report cited by Bloomberg. Rami Makhlouf, Assad’s cousin was among those awarded contracts for telecommunications and security. Some UN money went to a charity set up by the president’s wife.
UN staff ran up a $9.5 million bill at the Four Seasons hotel in Damascus, co-owned by Syria’s tourism ministry. Chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, “We source locally and there are many places where the local economy is either state-owned or we have very limited options.’’ Regarding UN spending at the Four Seasons, co-owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, he said, “That’s one place in Damascus that has been cleared for security.’’