A Franco-Syrian committee must oversee development projects financed by the confiscated assets in Rifaat al-Assad. According to the official Syrian report published Saturday, November 7, 2026, both parties agreed to its creation in Paris. They plan to exchange project proposals next week. No payments are announced.
Rifaat Assad Assets Committee
Qutaiba Kadish, responsible for international cooperation at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met Jean-François Guillaume, French Special Envoy for Syria. Their discussion focused on the procedures needed to allocate funds to projects for the benefit of the Syrian population.
The mandate of the announced committee would be to oversee these projects. The minutes shall not give its composition, its rules of decision or a date of first meeting. It also does not specify the projects already selected. The agreement in principle on this body therefore does not prove that the financing has been released.
Official amounts that do not agree
The Syrian report of 7 November refers to approximately EUR 54 million. This amount differs from the figures published by French diplomacy. At its press briefing on 16 July 2026, the spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay had specifically indicated EUR 51 million.
A fact sheet from the same ministry, updated on 6 November, mentions 47 million euros. It presents restitution as being to be done after negotiation of its framework, in the form of development projects. The documents consulted do not explain these differences. They do not make it possible to determine a single sum permanently available, let alone to see its transfer.
In July, the French spokesman had stated that the use programmes remained to be discussed. A letter of intent was signed when Emmanuel Macron moved to Damascus. The Committee’s announcement thus concerns the organisation of restitution, in line with this commitment.
From judicial confiscation to civilian projects
The judicial decision precedes these diplomatic negotiations. In a parliamentary reply published on 10 February 2026, the French Government recalls that the confiscation of Rifaat al-Assad’s assets became final on 7 September 2022, by decision of the Court of Cassation.
The French mechanism is based on the law of 4 August 2021. Under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the proceeds from the sale of confiscated property must finance cooperation and development actions. The civilian populations of the countries concerned are the beneficiaries.
Projects are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In the same response, the Ministry indicated that it was working with Syrian civil society and French organizations. Thus, the mechanism described is not simply to hand over an unearmarked envelope to the Damascus authorities.
The stage announced for next week remains the exchange of proposals. The selection of projects, their budgets and the timing of the initial funding will still need to be clarified.
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