Syria suspends TV presenter’s funds

Syria’s Ministry of Finance will freeze the financial assets of well-known television presenter Faisal el-Qassem, accusing him of supporting an ongoing terrorist insurgency in the war-torn country. The Ministry said the government had moved to suspend Qassem’s funds on accusations of conspiring to destabilise the country and fuel civil war there. Government sources claimed the controversial British-Syrian TV personality, who hosts Opposite Direction on Qatari channel Al Jazeera, had turned his farm in Syria’s Suwayda governorate into a safe haven for terrorist groups in the area. President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has also moved to block assets of other opponents including Michel Kilo, el-Sheikh Sarya el-Refaie and prominent businessman Faras Talas.