Syrian tycoon says will refuse government demand to step down from mobile operator

Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf said on Sunday that authorities had set a deadline for him to resign from the country's leading mobile operator Syriatel or it would revoke the company's licence, but that he would not step down.

In a video, the third the businessmen has issued bringing into the open a deep rift with his cousin President Bashar al Assad, Makhlouf also said the collapse of Syriatel, a main revenue earner for the government, would deal a "catastrophic" blow to the economy.