Majd Bahjat Suleiman (, born 28 October 1974; also known as Majid Suleiman) is a Syrian businessman and son of the former Syrian ambassador to Jordan and intelligence chief

Bahjat Suleiman Bahjat Suleiman (; 194925 February 2021) was a Syrian diplomat and former military officer. He served as the head of the internal branch of the General Intelligence Directorate (Syria), General Intelligence Directorate (GID), also known as Syrian ...

. He is the owner of Syria's largest media conglomerate, United Group (UG) which also operates under the trade name AWI Company and is affiliated with Al Waseet International.

Background

Majd Suleiman is the son of former Syrian ambassador to Jordan and head of the internal branch of the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate (GID) Bahjat Suleiman, and was identified by the United States

Congressional Research Service The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a public policy research institute of the United States Congress. Operating within the Library of Congress, it works primarily and directly for members of Congress and their committees and staff on a ...

as a "Key member of the Asad Family & Other Elites". His media conglomerate, United Group, owns and publishes ''

Baladna ''Baladna'' () is a privately owned, government-aligned Arabic daily newspaper published in Syria. The paper has also an English edition which was launched in December 2009 but later shut down. History and profile The owner and publisher of '' ...

'', one of two private daily newspapers covering political topics that have succeeded in staying open after the Syrian civil war, due to close ties to the

Syrian government The government of Syria takes place in a presidential system and is currently in a transitionary period under and led by a transitional government. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria. On 8 December 2024, after the succ ...

. His younger brother Haidara Suleiman is the editor-in-chief of Syrian government-aligned newspaper ''

'', a member of the

Syrian Electronic Army The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA; ) was a group of hacker (computer security), computer hackers which first surfaced online in 2011 to support the government of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Using spamming, website defacement, malware, ...

, and runs Syrian President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

's page on Facebook.

Career

He is a founding partner in United Group for Publishing Advertising and Marketing, also known as United Group (UG), with his business partner Bachar Kiwan United Group (UG) publishes the government-aligned ''

'' newspaper in Syria, and published the defunct ''Al-Balad'' newspaper in Lebanon, Kuwait, and the Comoros. Kiwan and Suleiman grew their partnership with the establishment of several affiliated businesses in the fields of banking, construction, tourism, advertising and publishing, taking on local business partners in various countries. Their businesses include Al Waseet International, AWI Holding Limited, Comoro Gulf Holdings (CGH), Comoro Gulf Aviation, and Jad & Jana (France). Suleiman and Kiwan also established AWI Company, also known as AWI Group, an affiliate of United Group (UG) based in Dubai Media City. AWI Company published a number of technical and advertising newspapers and magazines in 35 cities in 12 countries. The group publications included ''Layalina'', ''Top Gear'', ''Marie'' ''Claire'', ''Fortune'', and ''Concord Media for Road Advertisements''. The group planned for an IPO in 2012 but stopped due to Syrian civil war.

Personal life

Majd Suleiman is married to fashion entrepreneur Zina Khair, co-founder of the fashion accessory brand LE MARAIS 101. In 2005, the Canadian Foreign Affairs department was criticized for issuing a tourist visa to Zina Khair at the request of Bahjat Suleiman, so that she could give birth in Montreal.

References

People of the Syrian civil war Syrian Alawites Syrian businesspeople Living people 1974 births {{Syria-stub