“Secret woman in Assad’s life”

Sexy photo in the president’s emails

There would be a secret woman in the life of Bashar el-Assad. This was revealed by some of the thousands of e-mails from the Syrian president, of which the opposition has decrypted the access password. In one photo the woman appears from behind, the half-naked torso and arms raised against a wall, wearing only white bra and clothes stacked on the ground. The photo was sent to Assad last December 11 by a woman who is not his wife: the email does not contain any messages and it is not clear who the woman is. That day, however, Assad’s troops were shooting at an activist’s funeral and killed 12. All the details of Assad’s mysterious woman are told by the British newspaper, Daily Telegraph.

According to members of the opposition, the woman could also have a second e-mail address under a false name used to send Assad even more intimate messages. This account was opened last December 1, when an email is sent to Assad who simply says ‘hi’, to which he simply replies ‘Hello and a half’. But as the weeks go by, the tone of the exchange becomes more romantic, the two also pass the music of a popular Lebanese singer, Fairuz, and at some point, he seems to send her a gift certificate. On 17 January, Assad receives an e-mail from the second account with a single, single Arabic character which means ‘I love you’ and 25 another, which contains only an ‘x’, the universally used sign to indicate the kiss.

Although there is no direct evidence of sexual intercourse between the two, the news casts a shadow over the couple’s relationship between Assad and his wife, Asma. Throughout the last year the two have always presented themselves very close together (Asma, despite the rumors, would never have left Damascus and in January was also photographed with the two older children in the center during a pro-regime demonstration). And also, in the emails, the presidential couple shows a rather cohesive relationship: on December 28 Asma writes to the Syrian president: “If we are strong together, we will overcome everything together. I love you”. And he replies: “I don’t care what happens, I have no doubts”. The Daily Telegraph says it tried to contact the accounts found in Assad’s mailing list.

(March 17, 2012)