Asma al-Assad

Asma al-Assad أسماء الأسد
File:Asma al-Assad.jpg Asma al-Assad in 2003
First Lady of Syria
Incumbent
Assumed office December 2000
Preceded by	Anisa Makhlouf
Personal details
Born	Asma Akhras (1975-08-11) 11 August 1975 London, England
Nationality	Syrian, British
Spouse(s)	Bashar al-Assad (m. 2000)
Relations	Fawaz Akhras
Children	3
Alma mater	King's College London
Religion	Sunni Islam

Asma al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء الأسد‎‎, Levantine pronunciation: [ˈʔasma lˈʔasad] or [ʔasˈmaːʔ elˈʔasad]) (born 11 August 1975, née Akhras (Arabic: أسماء فواز الأخرس‎‎, [ˈʔasma fawˈwaːz elˈʔaxras]), is a British-Syrian. She was born to Syrian-born parents, raised and educated in the United Kingdom, and graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and French literature. She briefly pursued a career in international investment banking before moving to Syria to marry President Bashar al-Assad in December 2000.

As of 2013, Asma al-Assad is subject to economic sanctions relating to high-level Syrian government officials, making it illegal in the European Union (EU) to provide her with certain material assistance, for her to obtain certain products, and curtailing her ability to travel within the EU excluding the United Kingdom.

Early life and education

Asma Akhras was born on 11 August 1975 in London to Fawaz Akhras, a consultant cardiologist at the Cromwell Hospital, London, and his wife Sahar Akhras (née Otri), a retired diplomat who served as first secretary at the Syrian Embassy in London. Her parents are Sunni Muslims and of Syrian origin, hailing from the city of Homs. She grew up in Acton where she went to Twyford Church of England High School and her friends called her Emma. Afterwards, she moved on to a private girls' school, Queen's College. Finally, she graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a first-class bachelor of science degree in computer science and a diploma in French literature. She speaks English, Arabic, French, and Spanish.

Brief finance career

After graduating, she started work as an economics analyst at Deutsche Bank Group in the hedge fund management division with clients in Europe and East Asia. In 1998 she joined the investment banking division of J.P. Morgan where she worked on a team that specialized in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Assad and the First Lady of Brazil, Marisa Leticia, in the National Museum of Syria, 2003

First Lady

Asma Akhras met Bashar al-Assad, the future president of Syria, while he was studying ophthalmology in London and they remained in touch. After Syrian President Hafez al-Assad's death in June 2000, Bashar took over the presidency. Asma moved to Syria in November 2000 and married Bashar in December of that year. The marriage surprised many since there had been no media reports of their dating and courtship prior to the wedding.

She is said to be in favor of economic and technological reform, but there is very little information regarding her modes and areas of influence, or the extent to which she attempts to promote her ideas in the face of the opposition of other family members. Unlike Bashar’s mother, who rarely appeared in public, Asma has played a relatively prominent public role. . . . However, there is no sign that Asma is involved in any of the wider consultations that Bashar holds with his advisors, belongs to any cliques within the regime, or has had any influence on nondomestic issues (such as Lebanon or the peace process with Israel).

— Shmuel Bar

Style and public image

She was described by analysts and in media as an important part of the public relations effort of the Syrian government early in her tenure as first lady and she was credited with taking progressive positions on women's rights and education. The United Nations Development Program, UNDP, spent US$ 18 million to help organise a complex set of reform initiatives showing the Syrian government was working toward a more modern and progressive form of government. A key part of the program was helping to create "a reformer's aura" for Asma al-Assad, highlighting her participation in anti-poverty and social programs and her role as founder and chair of a national umbrella charity called the Syrian Trust for Development until the program was suspended as the country descended into civil war.Additionally, her stylish designer outfits garnered media attention including fashion slideshows on The Huffington Post and Elle. As a Sunni Muslim by birth, Asma al-Assad's leading role was also important for the view of the Syrian government and president, an Alawite, among the Sunni majority of Syria.

Bashar and Asma al-Assad during a trip to Moscow, 2008.

Syrian civil war

A serious blow was dealt to her public image since the Syrian Civil War intensified in early 2012 amid reports of her extravagant personal shopping. A new picture emerged in western media "of a woman closer in spirit to Imelda Marcos than the moderating counselor to her husband's excesses that she was once seen as being". The Daily Telegraph reported that in January 2012, despite worldwide condemnation of her husband's government, she appeared with him and two of their children at a pro-government rally.

The first lady was criticized for remaining silent throughout the beginning of the Syrian uprising. She issued her first official statement to international media since the insurrection began in February 2012, nearly a year after the first serious protests. She sent an email to The Times stating: "The President is the President of Syria, not a faction of Syrians, and the first lady supports him in that role". The communique also described her continued support for charities and rural development activities. Also in early February, she sent an email to The Times declaring her support for her husband and related that she "comforts" the "victims of the violence".

On 23 March 2012, the European Union froze her assets and placed a travel ban on her and President Assad's other close family members as part of escalating sanctions against the Syrian government. Asma al-Assad herself remains able to travel to the UK because of her British nationality but she is barred from entering the rest of the EU.

On 16 April 2012, Huberta von Voss Wittig and Sheila Lyall Grant, the wives of the German and British ambassadors to the United Nations, released a four-minute video asking Asma al-Assad to stand up for peace and urge her husband to end the bloodshed in her country.

She had not been seen in public regularly since the July 2012 bombing of the Military Intelligence Directorate that took place in Damascus, leading to press speculation and government denials that she had fled the country or the capital city of Damascus. She made a public appearance at the Damascus Opera House for an event called "Mother's Rally" on 18 March 2013, refuting the rumors. She made another public appearance in October 2013 and further dispelled the rumors of her fleeing the country by saying "I was here yesterday, I'm here today and I will be here tomorrow".

Vogue article

In March 2011, Vogue published a flattering profile of Syria's first lady titled "A Rose in the Desert" authored by veteran fashion writer Joan Juliet Buck. The article was later removed from Vogue’s website without editorial comment that spring. Responding to media inquiries about the disappearance of Assad's profile, Vogue’s editor stated that "as the terrible events of the past year and a half unfolded in Syria, it became clear that [Syria’s] priorities and values were completely at odds with those of Vogue". After strong public and media reaction to the article, Buck's contract was not renewed with Vogue although she had been employed by the magazine for over 30 years and had been an editor of French Vogue for seven years. The New York Times later reported that the piece was intended as part of a larger Syrian government-sponsored image campaign coordinated by the public relations firm Brown Lloyd James. Buck has since written another article for Newsweek giving an extremely critical account of Asma al-Assad, concluding that she is the "first lady of hell". Separately, Buck's original profile of Assad was satirized in The Philadelphia Inquirer and additional critical articles.

Personal life

Asma and Bashar al-Assad have three children: Hafez, Zein, and Karim.

External links

• Syria's first lady wants to make a difference, Interview by Ann Curry, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (9 May 2007)
• The London girl with a plan to save Syria, Margarette Driscoll, The Times (7 December 2008)
• Mysterious Mrs. Assad, CBC News / The National: Special report from Susan Ormiston (20 February 2012)
• Syrian first lady quiet as thousands die, CNN (21 August 2012), video 3:27