A British-educated former investment banker, Asma cultivated the image of a glamorous yet serious-minded woman with strong Western-inspired values who was meant to humanize the increasingly secretive and isolated Assad family.But that image crumbled when her husband responded to an anti-government rebellion with extreme violence a year ago.She has stood resolutely by his side and described herself as "the real dictator" in an email published by Britain's Guardian newspaper last week. The stash of messages showed she had also made luxury online purchases in Britain as the fighting around Syria raged.Her ancestral home is Homs, now a symbol of the revolt which has been subjected to particularly fierce government attack. Video from the city on Friday showed plumes of smoke rising from residential areas after being hit by apparent mortar fire.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain and has a network of contacts in Syria, said the army clashed with defectors in the north-eastern town of Azaz, on the border with Turkey. Three soldiers and one defector were killed as the army fired heavy machine-guns and mortar rounds, it said.Helicopters hovered overhead and smoke was seen rising from buildings. It is impossible to verify reports from Syria because authorities have denied access to independent journalists.Syria has said 3,000 members of the security forces have died in the uprising, which Damascus blames on terrorist gangs and foreign interference.
EU sanctions Assad's wife; mortars hit Homs
Sanctions target Assad's family, two Syrian entities; envoy Kofi Annan to fly to Moscow and Beijing for talks.
A British-educated former investment banker, Asma cultivated the image of a glamorous yet serious-minded woman with strong Western-inspired values who was meant to humanize the increasingly secretive and isolated Assad family.But that image crumbled when her husband responded to an anti-government rebellion with extreme violence a year ago.She has stood resolutely by his side and described herself as "the real dictator" in an email published by Britain's Guardian newspaper last week. The stash of messages showed she had also made luxury online purchases in Britain as the fighting around Syria raged.Her ancestral home is Homs, now a symbol of the revolt which has been subjected to particularly fierce government attack. Video from the city on Friday showed plumes of smoke rising from residential areas after being hit by apparent mortar fire.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain and has a network of contacts in Syria, said the army clashed with defectors in the north-eastern town of Azaz, on the border with Turkey. Three soldiers and one defector were killed as the army fired heavy machine-guns and mortar rounds, it said.Helicopters hovered overhead and smoke was seen rising from buildings. It is impossible to verify reports from Syria because authorities have denied access to independent journalists.Syria has said 3,000 members of the security forces have died in the uprising, which Damascus blames on terrorist gangs and foreign interference.