Former Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad has filed for divorce: report

The wife of deposed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has filed for divorce in Russia as she prepares to fight bone cancer, according to reports.

The British-born wife of deposed Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad has filed for divorce, reports claim.

Asma al-Assad, 49, and her husband are in Moscow after being forced into exile when Islamist rebels toppled the Syrian government.

The former first lady, once known as “Rose of the Desert” for her elegance and charm, is said to be dissatisfied with her life under the guard of Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia and wants to return to the UK, The Sun reports.

She is also claimed to have filed for divorce from Assad, who she met in the early 1990s while holidaying in Syria.

Syrian ousted president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma arrive for a dinner hosted by Britain's Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine of Lairg, at Lancaster house in central London 16 December 2002. Picture: AFP

They began a relationship when the future dictator moved to London to train as an eye doctor.

The pair married in 2000, the same year Assad ascended to the head of Syria’s dictatorship after his brother and heir to the regime, Bassel, died in a car crash.

But Asma has now applied to a Russian court for permission to leave Russia - and her husband - for Britain, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Her application is currently being evaluated by Russian authorities, The Sun reports.

Her husband and his family are believed to be under “severe restrictions” in Moscow, and he is barred from leaving the city or engaging in political activities.

Assad’s assets and his money in Russia are reportedly frozen. It is claimed he moved some 270kg of gold and £1.6 billion to Moscow.

Assad and his clan are also believed to own dozens of apartments in the Russian capital.

Bashar al-Assad (R) and his wife Asma al-Assad walk upon arrival at the Maiquetia international airport, in Caracas on June 25, 2010. Picture: AFP

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected claims Asma had filed for divorce.

He said the claims “do not correspond to reality.”

The despot and his family were offered a safe haven by Vladimir Putin, who evacuated Assad out of Syria on December 8 - shortly before the country fell into the hands of rebels.

Asma and the couple’s three children were already in Russia, where reports say she has been undergoing treatment for acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive form of blood and bone marrow cancer, which she would prefer to have treated in the UK.

One week before Assad’s loss of power, the couple’s eldest son Hafez Bashar al-Assad, 23, had been in Russia defending his thesis at Moscow State University.

Syrian ousted president Bashar al-Assad's wife Asma has reportedly filed for divorce as she prepares to undergo treatment for blood and bone marrow cancer. Picture: AFP

Born in England in 1975, Asma al-Assad is the daughter of Fawaz Akhras, 78, a consultant cardiologist, and Sahar, 75, a diplomat at the Syrian embassy.

She grew up in a mansion in West London and graduated with a computer science degree from King’s College.

Asma was once seen as a symbol of freedom and female empowerment in the repressive Middle East.

Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad (C), his wife Asma (R) and French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand (2dL) leave the Grand Palais after their visit to an exhibition in Paris on December 11, 2010. Picture: AFP

As the first lady of Syria, Asma - who does not wear a burqa or a veil - symbolised Syria’s comparatively liberal political climate where women had more rights than in other Islamic countries.

In 2010, British Vogue magazine described her as a “desert rose” and a “long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind”.

Queen Elizabeth II receives Asma al-Assad and her husband, then Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad, on December 17 2002, at Buckingham Palace. Picture: AFP

But it did not take long for Asma to become associated with her husband’s brutal regime.

She told a friend that she was the “real dictator” in the family, according to The Telegraph.

Assad started to wipe out the opposition groups in the city of Homs which sparked the Syrian Civil War which killed 500,000 people while six million were left as refugees.

Members of Syria's White Helmets civil defence transport body-bags containing human remains that were recovered from a mass grave, in Damascus, on December 16, 2024. Picture: AFP

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 100,000 people died in Syria's jails and detention centres from 2011. Picture: AFP

It is known that chemical weapons were used on children, political opponents were tortured and murdered, and mass graves are now being uncovered.

As a strong support to her husband, Asma cannot have been oblivious to these policies, and some say she may have helped orchestrate his oppressive regime.

Originally published as Former Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad has filed for divorce: report