Asma al-Assad – The Beautiful Face of the Syrian Dictatorship | DW Documentary

Asma al-Assad, the First Lady of Syria and wife of president Bashar al-Assad, was initially a beacon of hope. Today, she is regarded as the dictator’s accomplice.

She grew up in London, went to elite schools and had a promising career. The former ambassador of the European Union to Syria, Frank Hesske, still gets a sparkle in his eyes when he talks about Asma al-Assad. She was ‘a darling’, and comparable to Princess Diana - and not just because of her British roots: ‘We diplomats,’ the former ambassador now reveals with surprising honesty, ‘let ourselves be seduced’. Many of the diplomats, politicians and journalists from the West who met the presidential couple during the 11 years after Assad took power and before the civil war broke out shared that fate: they let themselves be duped. Torture, arrests and threats were unleashed on all those who got in the way of the regime - just as under Assad’s father. There’s the famous opposition activist Riad Seif, whose daughter talks about the regime’s humiliations and the constant fear that her family could be taken by the secret police and her father killed. While the country remains as dark as ever, this film looks at Asma al-Assad’s international role as the face of the dictatorship, the woman from London who for a long time managed to make the Assads socially acceptable.

Asma al-Assad- die First Lady Syriens

Asma al-Assad - Das schöne Gesicht der Diktatur. Asma al-Assad, die First Lady Syriens. Der Westen sah in ihr das Ideal einer arabischen Herrscherin: schön, gebildet, modern. Heute gilt sie als Komplizin eines Diktators, der Verbrechen an seinem Volk begeht. Quelle : ARD

Asma Al Assad: Things You Need to Know Bashar’s Wife

Asma Al-Assad is the wife of President Bashar al-Assad, who has been in power since July 2000. For a time, Asma was seen in a positive light to push social and economic development. She was even once featured in a flattering Vogue article.

Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert »

Mrs. Asma al-Assad Interview with Russia's Channel 24

Mrs. Assad's public interview for the past 8 years. Source: Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic

Who Is Asma al-Assad? – Video Explainer

Asma al-Assad gave a rare television interview on 18 October, saying she had refused offers of asylum for her and her children. The Syrian first lady, who grew up in west London and moved to the Middle East shortly before marrying Bashar al-Assad in December 2000, sounded defiant in her interview, condemning western sanctions and media coverage of the war in Syria.

John Kerry and Bashar al-Assad Dined in Damascus

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Photographs showing John Kerry, the US secretary of state, dining in splendour with President Bashar al-Assad have emerged, as Mr Kerry likened the Syrian ruler to Hitler.

Mr Kerry visited Damascus in February 2009, when he was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He said in a press conference during the visit: "President Barack Obama's administration considers Syria a key player in Washington's efforts to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.

"Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region."

Mr Kerry met with Mr Assad at least six times, and on one occasion – seen in the photographs – dining with the two men's wives at the Naranj restaurant in central Damascus.

The restaurant, in the heart of Damascus's Old Town, is on a marble paved avenue named Straight Street, which was built by the Romans and mentioned in the Bible. » | Harriet Alexander | Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Syria's First Lady Draws Marie Antoinette Comparisons

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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Syria conflict: Asma al-Assad is having her 'Marie Antoinette moment': What are we to make of Asma al-Assad, the first lady of Syria, who grew up in London and was educated at our schools, asks Cathy Newman. » | Cathy Newman, Presenter, Channel 4 News | Thursday, August 29, 2013

Syria’s first lady »

Syrien: Asma al-Assad soll schwanger sein

SPIEGEL ONLINE: In Syrien tobt der Krieg - und Herrscher Baschar al-Assad freut sich angeblich über Familienzuwachs. Seine Frau Asma, die sich seit Monaten nicht mehr öffentlich gezeigt hat, erwartet laut einer libanesischen Zeitung ein Kind. Dies habe der mutmaßlich werdende Vater Besuchern verkündet.

Damaskus - Asma al-Assad, die Frau des syrischen Diktators Baschar al-Assad, soll schwanger sein. Dies berichtet die libanesische Zeitung "al-Akhbar". Sie berief sich dabei auf namentlich nicht genannte "Besucher", denen gegenüber Assad das kürzlich verkündet haben soll.

Das Ehepaar Assad hat bereits drei Kinder. Ob sie sich noch in Damaskus aufhalten, ist unklar. Mutter und Schwester des Diktators sollen sich inzwischen nach Dubai abgesetzt haben. Beide galten als enge Vertraute und wichtige Beraterinnen im inneren Kreis um Assad.

Was die politische Situation in Syrien angeht, habe sich Baschar al-Assad während des Treffens siegesgewiss gegeben, berichteten die Quellen weiter. Seit zwei Jahren kommt es in dem Land zu Protesten gegen Baschar al-Assad. Inzwischen hat er über weite Teile des Landes die Kontrolle verloren, es herrscht Bürgerkrieg. Möglicherweise wurden die Gerüchte um die Schwangerschaft auch gestreut, um die Abwesenheit Asma al-Assads in der Öffentlichkeit zu erklären und die Zuversicht des Diktators zu unterstreichen. » | ras | Dienstag, 29. Januar 2013

Bürgerkrieg in Syrien: Wo sind die Assads?

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Kämpfe in der Hauptstadt, mehrere Regimegrößen getötet: Das syrische Regime wankt. Baschar al-Assad hat sich noch nicht zu Wort gemeldet. Ist er wirklich in die Küstenstadt Latakia [E] geflohen - und seine Frau nach Russland?

Das syrische Regime gerät immer stärker in die Defensive. Die Aufständischen haben den finalen Kampf um die Macht ausgerufen. In mehreren Stadtteilen von Damaskus toben Gefechte. Am Mittwoch hat Diktator Baschar al-Assad bei einem schweren Bombenanschlag vier seiner engsten Vertrauten verloren. Möglicherweise wurden noch weitere Regimegrößen schwer verletzt oder gar getötet. Hartnäckig hält sich das Gerücht, auch Assads Bruder Mahir, die wichtigste Person des Regimes neben dem Präsidenten, sei bei dem Treffen dabei gewesen und habe Verletzungen erlitten.

War Baschar al-Assad selbst auch dort? Dies gilt als unwahrscheinlich. Der Präsident, der sich vor dem Krieg oft mitten in der Stadt mit seiner Familie zeigte, hat es seit Beginn der Aufstände zunehmend vermieden, den Schutz seiner Paläste und Kasernen zu verlassen. Aus Sicherheitsgründen wurde bereits sein angekündigter Auftritt bei der Einschwörung des neuen syrischen Parlaments im Mai 2012 kurzfristig abgesagt. Offenbar glaubte man, trotz erhöhter Sicherheitsmaßnahmen, einschließlich der kompletten Absperrung der Damaszener Innenstadt rund um das Parlament, die Sicherheit des Präsidenten nicht mehr garantieren zu können. Assad hat Damaskus offenbar verlassen » | Von Raniah Salloum | Donnerstag, 19. Juli 2012

As Syria Burns, Assad's British-born Wife Goes On £270,000 Online Shopping Spree and Imports Chandeliers, Rugs, Sofas, Tables and Eleven Ottomans from London

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: Asma al-Assad, 36, placed the order with exclusive London store DN Designs in the King's Road, Chelsea, West London / Among the 130 items were 11 ottomans costing over £20,000, a dining room table priced at almost £10,000 and a rug worth just under £11,000

She has been dubbed the Princess Diana of the Middle East, combining beauty and style with tireless charity work.

In a region blighted by dictatorships and conflicts, the First Lady of Syria, Asma al-Assad, was billed as the modern and caring face of the Arab world.

But emails obtained by WikiLeaks show Mrs Assad, 36, spent £270,000 buying furniture from an exclusive London store for one of her presidential palaces last March – as Syria was descending into a bloody civil war.

British-born Mrs Assad sent her order – which included five chandeliers costing £8,800 – to upmarket furniture store DN Designs in the King’s Road, Chelsea, West London.

The emails, seen exclusively by The Mail on Sunday, emerged as more than 200 people were believed to have been massacred by government forces in the village of Tremseh last Thursday. » | Abul Taheer | Sunday, July 15, 2012