One businessman in particular, steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz quickly became a symbol of corruption, and his offices were torched.

FORBES: President Assad And The Syrian Business Elite

Ahmed Ezz, for instance, has gone from ceramics into specialised steel: outpacing the state steel company, his firm now exports a third of its output and could, if it chose, export all of it.

ECONOMIST: A survey of Egypt: New sons, old fathers | The