Muhammad Bashar Kiwan

Muhammad Bashar Kiwan (; born November 30, 1966), known as Bachar Kiwan, is a Syrian-French businessman, founder of the classified-advertising and media group Al Waseet International (AWI), which at its peak operated in 12 countries across the Middle East and North Africa and published regional editions of magazines including Marie Claire, Top Gear and Fortune. Researchers have described his United Group (UG) as aligned with the media interests of the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad.

His businesses collapsed after he fell out in 2016 with his Kuwaiti business partner, a member of the ruling family.

He is a founding partner in United Group for Publishing Advertising and Marketing, also known as United Group (UG), with his business partner Majd Bahjat Suleiman (son of Syrian Major General Bahjat Suleiman). Described by researchers as the media arm of the Assad regime in various Arab countries, United Group (UG) publishes the government-aligned Baladna 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, Dagher and Kiwan General Trading, and Jad & Jana (France).

In the Comoros, United Group (UG) affiliate Comoro Gulf Holdings (CGH) worked closely with former Comorian president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, and "monopolized investment and development on the islands." CGH's holdings included the Comoros United Company for Publishing and Distributing, which published the weekly newspaper Al-Waseet and a daily newspaper in Arabic and French, Al-Balad.

Kiwan and Suleiman 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.

Legal proceedings

Comoros Islands

Kiwan and his close associate, then Comorian president Abdullah Sambi, launched an economic citizenship program under which Comorian citizenship was sold, principally to stateless residents of Gulf states. In 2018, Kiwan, two former Comoros presidents, and several other associates were criminally charged in relation to embezzlement of millions of euros diverted from this program to Kiwan and his associates.

Thousands of passports had been sold outside of official channels by 'mafia networks', of which hundreds were sold to Iranians, prompting fears amongst Western and Gulf allies that the passports were being used to skirt sanctions.

From 21 to 24 November 2022, Kiwan was tried for embezzlement and money laundering of Comorian public funds allegedly diverted from the economic citizenship program. On 28 November 2022, Bashar Kiwan was found guilty of criminal fraud, money laundering, and embezzlement of Comorian public funds. He was sentenced, in absentia, to 10 years in jail. Shortly thereafter, Kiwan illegally fled Kuwait, and in January 2018, three individuals were arrested for aiding his escape. Kiwan made his way to France, where he has since lived openly, speaking to international media about his cases. In June 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported, largely on the basis of Kiwan's account and documents he provided, that Jho Low, the financier accused of masterminding the 1MDB scandal, had moved funds through Kuwait with the involvement of Kiwan's business partner; Kiwan said he had refused to transfer funds, had been detained and beaten by Kuwaiti secret services, and had become a target of retribution after the falling-out. A spokesperson for the partner denied the allegations. By December 2020, Kiwan initiated arbitration proceedings against the State of Kuwait, claiming damages arising from the government’s alleged seizure of his investments following criminal investigations related to fraud charges and his imprisonment.

In March 2023, a Kuwaiti criminal court convicted five men—among them Jho Low, Sheikh Sabah Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah and Kiwan—of laundering funds linked to the 1MDB scandal. The sheikh and his business partner received 10 years' hard labour and a Kuwaiti lawyer seven years, while Low and Kiwan, both abroad, received their 10-year sentences in absentia. In April 2023, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Kiwan’s deprivation of liberty in Kuwait had been arbitrary under its categories I and III, citing incommunicado detention, torture and violations of his fair-trial rights; it requested that Kuwait "take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Kiwan without delay" and accord him "an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law".

In March 2025, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal issued its final award in Kiwan’s arbitration against Kuwait. The tribunal found that Kuwait had breached the fair-and-equitable-treatment standard of the France-Kuwait Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) through a denial of justice and serious due-process violations in the proceedings tied to Kiwan’s “human trafficking” conviction, which was related to his illegal departure from Kuwait. The tribunal nevertheless determined that the breach had caused Kiwan no compensable financial loss, denied his claim for moral damages (such as reputational harm), and rejected all other claims, so he received no compensation; it also declined to award Kuwait its claimed legal costs.

Business and political ties

A 2022 report by the Harmoon Center for Contemporary Studies, a Syrian opposition research centre, identified Bashar Kiwan as part of a network of Syrians residing abroad who it said performed functions of a dual nature for the Assad regime, mainly in the financial and military sphere.

Bashar Kiwan was a member of the Syrian-Iranian Business Council (SIBC). According to the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, he served as an intermediary for Iranian purchases of real estate in Syria alongside his business associate Mazen Al Tarazi. In March 2019, Mazen Al Tarazi was arrested in Kuwait and charged with money laundering.

Personal life Kiwan is married to French national Angelique Tournoud Kiwan, who he met on a ski trip in college. The couple has one son, Jad Kiwan.