Bashar al-Assad’s British-born wife Asma faces health battle
Asma al-Assad was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 and in May announced she had leukaemia, leading to speculation she had already left the country for treatment.
Bashar al-Assad’s wife may hold a British passport, but it is far too late for it to help her or her children.
The Assad regime has close historical ties with the UK which opposition groups believe have been used to circumvent sanctions for years and will finance the family’s exile.
The president’s wife, Asma, 49, is the daughter of Fawaz Akhras, a cardiologist, and Sahar, a diplomat at the Syrian embassy. The family still own the pounds 1 million terraced house in Acton, London, where Asma grew up. There is no suggestion the family has been involved in any wrongdoing.
Asma studied at Twyford Church of England High School in Acton before attending the private Queen’s College in Marylebone. After a degree in computer science she joined Deutsche Bank and later JP Morgan.
She met her future husband during childhood holidays in Syria but became better acquainted when he moved to London in 1992.
Assad was suddenly recalled to Damascus following the death of his elder brother in 1994. He inherited the dictatorship when their father, Hafiz, died in June 2000 and the couple were married six months later. They now have three children.
The first lady was initially seen as having a reforming influence on her husband. In 2010 Vogue magazine described her as a “long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind”. The edition was still on sale when Assad began the crackdown on opposition groups in the city of Homs which sparked the civil war during which 500,000 people were killed and six million left as refugees.
Asma was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2018 and in May announced she had leukaemia. A video led to speculation she has already fled Syria for treatment abroad. In it, she said: “Anyone battling an illness must have the strength and willpower to not only overcome it, but also to endure being away from the people they love.”
Asma’s family is not covered by UK sanctions, although her parents and two brothers are named under wider US sanctions regulations.
The Times
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