Sit's like a fairy tale that went frankly wrong… Through her British childhood and her Western style, Asma el-Assad, 49, for a time embodied the hope of Syrian renewal, the alliance of glamor and ambition in the service of a modern image of the Arab woman. Before being dragged into the horrors and limitless abuses of a dictatorial system, of which she became a central pawn.
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It is difficult to disentangle fact from fiction in the fate of young Asma, as the Syrian regime's propaganda has rewritten her history. The daughter of a cardiologist of Syrian origin living in London, she grew up in a privileged environment, obtained a degree in computer science and literature at the prestigious King's College in London and made her debut in finance, notably the investment bank JP Morgan.
Legend has it that she fell in love with the very reserved Bachar el-Assad, who was then studying ophthalmology in London, during an evening at the embassy. But it seems rather that the union was arranged… His family wanted to get into the good graces of the presidency. And on the side of the Syrian regime, we welcome an alliance with the daughter of a large Sunni family from Homs, while the Assads belong to the minority Alawite clan.
Upon the death of his brother in 1994, Bachar became the heir of the clan: his relationship still remains a secret, and Asma's destiny changed when her husband became president in 2000. Her arrival in this quasi-mafia family was not been a lot of fun: Bachar's sister can't stand his overly Western style, and the new president's mother doesn't appreciate this quasi-foreigner who eclipses him as first lady… The young woman is wiretapped, she has nervous breakdowns and even falls into anorexia.
With the support of Bachar, she ends up imposing her style, which contrasts with old practices: glamorous, smiling, she does not wear the veil, but dares to wear pants and modernizes in one fell swoop the outdated image of the regime, with the discreet help of Western communications firms. On site, she surrounded herself with followers within an unofficial and all-powerful economic council and founded the Syria Trust for Developement, which oversees associations and NGOs to develop social action, until now under the control of the Baath party.
A way of maintaining her image and her popularity among the populations… Outside, during official visits, she triumphs as an oriental Lady Di, dressed by the great couturiers and perched on Louboutins. The effect is such that Vogue presents her as the “desert rose” in a portrait all to her glory in 2011.
Asma el-Assad, the she-wolf among the wolves
But the propaganda rings false at the very moment when the regime bloodily suppresses the uprising of its people. Asma then returns to the shadows, but continues her charitable operations at the head of her trust… While expanding her financial empire by diverting cash and assets for the benefit of the clan. The liberal first lady of the Arab world has transformed into an iron lady, a wolf among wolves, ambitious and without qualms to one day ensure the accession of her eldest son, Hafez – she is the mother of three children.
In 2012, as the civil war raged, the Guardian reveals emails which show that she is ordering pumps and decorative items online for her holiday home on the coast… To lessen the scandal, Asma is quickly put back at the forefront of the official photos, as a benefactress of widows and wounded from the camp close to the regime.
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In 2020, Washington accused her of being “a notorious war profiteer” in the country and stigmatized her business networks, which would have allowed her to embezzle tens of millions from the family coffers. The Assad clan is credited with a fortune estimated at more than a billion dollars, an unverifiable figure. A central pillar of the regime, the ex-banker naturally blended into the Assad mafia logic by pillaging her country and embezzling humanitarian funds.
A dark destiny also marked by illness: after recovering from breast cancer in 2019, she was recently treated for acute leukemia. “If we are strong together, we will triumph over this together,” she wrote to Bashar in the middle of the civil war, without imagining experiencing the fall and exile so quickly… The most powerful woman in Syria saved her skin and that of his clan, but will now have to live under the high protection of Moscow.
