Cousin of Syria's Assad Denied Visa to Switzerland The Swiss supreme court has rejected a demand by a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad to visit his lawyer in Switzerland. Hafez Makhlouf had petitioned Switzerland's Federal Tribunal to grant him a visa so he could discuss with his lawyer how to overturn international sanctions imposed against him. The verdict published Thursday was reported Sunday by Switzerland's NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. The 40-year-old army colonel heads the Damascus branch of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate. European Union sanctions against Makhlouf say he is close to Assad's younger brother Maher, believed to be leading the crackdown against regime opponents. Last week Switzerland revealed it had frozen some 50 million Swiss francs ($53 million) linked to senior regime officials.