DAMASCUS: Syria’s new rulers are combing through the billion-dollar corporate empires of ousted President Bashar Assad’s allies, and have held talks with some of these tycoons, in what they say is a campaign to root out corruption and illegal activity. After seizing power in December, the new administration that now runs Syria pledged to reconstruct the country after 13 years of brutal civil war and abandon a highly-centralized and corrupt economic system where Assad’s cronies held sway.