Asma al-Assad

Asma al-Assad
أسماء الأسد
First Lady of Syria
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 2000
Preceded by Anisa Makhlouf
Personal details
Born Asma al-Akhras
11 August 1975 (1975-08-11) (age 36)
London, England
Nationality Syrian, British
Spouse(s) Bashar al-Assad
Relations Fawaz Akhras
Children Hafez, Zein and Karim al-Assad
Alma mater King's College London

Asma al-Assad (Arabic: أسماء الأسد‎); born 11 August 1975; née Asma Fawaz al-Akhras (Arabic: أسماء فواز الأخرس‎), is the British-born First Lady of Syria.[1] She moved to Syria to marry President Bashar al-Assad in December 2000, having previously pursued a career in investment banking.

Contents

Early life, education and career

Assad is the daughter of Fawaz Akhras, a consultant cardiologist at the Cromwell Hospital, London, and retired diplomat Sahar Otri al-Akhras. Her parents are Sunni and of Syrian origin, originally coming from Homs.[2][3] Assad grew up in Acton where she went to a local Church of England state school.[4] She finished her schooling at Queen's College in London, attended King's College London and graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Diploma in French Literature.[5]

After university, Assad started work at Deutsche Bank Group in the Hedge Fund Management division with clients in Europe and the Far East. In 1998, she joined the Investment Banking division of J.P. Morgan, specializing in mergers and acquisitions.

Personal life

Asma met Bashar al-Assad during a holiday to Syria.[6] After Hafez al-Assad's death in 2000, Bashar took over the presidency of Syria. Asma emigrated to Syria in November 2000 and married Bashar in December. They have three children: Hafez, Zein and Karim.[2]

On 10 May 2011, a diplomatic source reported that Assad had taken her three children out of the country to avoid escalating violence in Syria and they were now in a safe house "in or near" London.[7] The Syrian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Sami Khiyami, denied that Assad had fled to London with her children.[8] On 30 June 2011, she was photographed greeting regime supporters in Damascus.[9]

References

  1. ^ Is Asma Assad in London?The Daily Telegraph, By Nabila Ramdani, 10 May 2011
  2. ^ a b Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview". Comparative Strategy 25: 380. http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
  3. ^ Bar'el, Zvi (27 April 2011). "In Syria, the army's loyalty to Assad runs deep". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/in-syria-the-army-s-loyalty-to-assad-runs-deep-1.358310. Retrieved 17 July 2011. 
  4. ^ "The road to Damascus (all the way from Acton)". BBC News. 31 October 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1630134.stm. Retrieved 1 April 2011. 
  5. ^ Harvey, Oliver (3 July 2009). "Sexy Brit bringing Syria in from the cold". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2514525/Sexy-Brit-bringing-Syria-in-from-the-cold.html. Retrieved 26 March 2011. 
  6. ^ Asma al-Assad is no reformerNew Statesman, Nabila Ramdani, Published 26 May 2011
  7. ^ Ramdani, Nabila (10 May 2011). "Is Asma Assad in London?". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8503481/Is-Asma-Assad-in-London.html. Retrieved 11 May 2011. 
  8. ^ "Syrian ambassador: Asma Assad did not escape to London". The Jerusalem Post. 12 May 2011. http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=220196. Retrieved 20 May 2011. 
  9. ^ "Al Assad sacks governor of Syria flashpoint city". Gulf News. 2 July 2011. http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/al-assad-sacks-governor-of-syria-flashpoint-city-1.831577. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 

External links