Accounts and pages on social media circulated reports claiming that "Ayman Abu Qasra", the brother of the Syrian defence minister, had been appointed director of the Jdeidet Yabous border crossing with Lebanon, alleging that the appointment was based on his family relationship with the minister.
The Kashaf team followed up on the circulated claim and contacted the director of the relations department at the General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs, Mr "Mazen Alloush", directly to establish the accuracy of the reports. Alloush denied to the Kashaf platform that the decision was linked to family ties, explaining that "Ayman Abu Qasra" is one of the staff working within the authority since the post-liberation period, and stated that his appointment to run the crossing is an organisational administrative measure adopted by the authority, based on his professional record and accumulated experience in this field, and that the decision has no connection to his being the brother of the defence minister.
Why is this claim misleading?
False connection: an organisational administrative decision adopted by the General Authority for Border Crossings and Customs was framed as an appointment based on family ties to the defence minister, whereas the decision was based on professional record and experience, according to the authority's relations department director.
