ANNA Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, has disowned Bashar al-Assad's wife, Asma, about whom the magazine ran a highly complimentary article last year.
The profile, published last March, carried the headline ''A rose in the desert'' and called Mrs Assad ''the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies''.
Losing face ... Vogue removed an article on Asma Assad from its website.
According to The New York Times, the article was part of a public relations campaign in which the Syrian regime paid a US public relations firm $5000 a month to liaise with Vogue. The article was later removed from Vogue's website, and over the weekend Wintour issued a statement condemning the Assad regime.
''Like many at that time, we were hopeful that the Assad regime would be open to a more progressive society,'' she said. ''Subsequent to our interview, as the terrible events of the past year-and-a-half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that its priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue.''
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