FILE PHOTO: A drone view shows Bab Al-hawa Industrial City in Sarmada, Idlib, Syria March 17, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
IDLIB/DAMASCUS, Syria (Reuters) - The toppling of Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad has been great for Mohammad al-Badawi. His sales have doubled as beverages he imports cheaply from Turkey into the former-rebel stronghold of Idlib can now be sold in the rest of Syria.
For Haytham Joud business has collapsed. He built his food, drinks and consumer goods empire in the capital Damascus under the tight controls of Assad's protectionist regime. He's alarmed by the new government's experiment with a free market economy.
