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A Reuters investigation has uncovered that wealthy allies of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are systematically financing armed groups to incite rebellion against the interim government. Major-General Kamal Hassan, former military intelligence chief, and billionaire Rami Makhlouf are reportedly competing to establish militia networks among Syria’s Alawi minority, with both factions collectively bankrolling over 50,000 fighters to secure their allegiance.

Despite Assad’s apparent disinterest in reclaiming power from his Moscow exile, according to four sources close to the former ruling family, his former associates are actively working to undermine President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s administration. Their objectives include seizing control of 14 underground command centers and weapons caches constructed along Syria’s coastal region during Assad’s final years in power.

The report details how General Hassan regularly communicates with field commanders, expressing frustration over his diminished influence and ambitions to retake Latakia—the Alawi-majority homeland of the Assad family. This power struggle has exacerbated sectarian tensions, resulting in significant violence across regions including Latakia and Sweida, where clashes between Alawi and Druze communities have claimed numerous lives.

Following Assad’s overthrow in December 2024, loyalist attacks in Latakia triggered violent retaliations against Alawis, with at least 1,500 fatalities documented—many allegedly traceable to officials in Damascus. The interim government faces skepticism from minority groups wary of President Sharaa’s past association with al-Nusra Front, though he has publicly renounced its extremist ideology.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani recently addressed these concerns at London’s Chatham House, emphasizing the government’s commitment to establishing a pluralistic, election-based state after 13 years of conflict. ‘We aspire that the Syrian state is one that Syrians believe in,’ Shaibani stated, asserting that Syria possesses no inherent sectarian problem despite its complex demographic landscape.

In a significant bipartisan move, the US House Foreign Affairs Committee has approved legislation that would formally designate all groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations. The Wednesday vote saw six Democratic representatives—Cherfilus-McCormick, Stanton, Moskowitz, Costa, Latimer, and Schneider—join all Republican committee members in advancing the measure.

The proposed legislation, which must still pass both the full House and Senate to become law, employs notably broader language than former President Donald Trump’s recent executive order on the same subject. While Trump’s order initiated a review process for designating Brotherhood affiliates in specific countries, this bill would implement a comprehensive designation across all affiliated groups.

Committee Chairman Brian Mast, a strong Israel supporter who lost both legs in Afghanistan and later volunteered with the Israeli military, has been instrumental in pushing the legislation forward. The move has drawn criticism from various quarters, including ranking Democrat Gregory Meeks, who warned that such designation would severely hamper US diplomatic engagement with regional partners and distort understanding of the Brotherhood’s diverse functions.

The Muslim Brotherhood itself condemned Trump’s earlier executive order as “politically motivated” and “detached from reality,” warning that designation would set a dangerous precedent while undermining US national security and regional stability. Experts like Rose Kelanic of Defense Priorities note that the Brotherhood poses no direct terror threat to the US, though some argue it could represent a threat to Israeli interests.

This legislative effort revives an initiative first floated by Trump in 2017, during a period of regional turmoil following the Arab Spring. At that time, Middle Eastern powers were deeply divided in their response to populist Islamist movements, culminating in the Saudi-Emirati blockade of Qatar. However, regional dynamics have since evolved significantly, with key nations restoring diplomatic ties through the 2021 Al Ula agreement.

According to Gulf expert Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, “The battles have been fought, and the region has moved on to a point,” suggesting the current push appears driven more by domestic political considerations than regional geopolitics.

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) governing body has formally rejected a series of demands from the United States, including calls to terminate its investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes and to amend its foundational treaty. This development follows the annual meeting of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in The Hague, where member nations issued a collective statement expressing grave concern over coercive measures targeting the court’s officials and operations.

The U.S. administration, through diplomatic channels, had reportedly conditioned the lifting of sanctions on the ICC’s abandonment of its probes in Palestine and Afghanistan. A further demand sought an amendment to the Rome Statute that would prohibit the prosecution of citizens from non-member states—a move that would effectively grant immunity to American and Israeli nationals and also impact the court’s investigation into alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

Diplomatic sources revealed that these demands were presented to member states by an EU diplomat last month. However, the final ASP declaration, adopted by consensus, emerged as a strengthened compromise that firmly upholds the court’s integrity. The statement denounced threats and coercive measures against court officials but included a single, carefully worded reference to dialogue with non-members, intended solely to encourage broader ratification of the treaty, not to negotiate its core principles.

Multiple diplomats and ICC experts emphasized that capitulating to U.S. pressure by amending the Rome Statute would be more destructive to the court’s existence than the sanctions themselves. The prevailing sentiment was one of defiance, with one official stating, ‘Either we fight or we die. Either we swim or we sink.’

The backdrop to this confrontation includes unprecedented U.S. sanctions imposed on ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, his deputies, several judges, and other officials, disrupting their personal lives and access to global financial systems. In response, the ICC has implemented confidential countermeasures to shield its operations. The court’s investigations, particularly the historic issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, continue unabated, with officials and judges vowing they will not be deterred.