Syrian first lady Asma Assad diagnosed with leukemia, says president's office

Asma Assad, who was born and raised in the United Kingdom, is a powerful figure.

Syrian first lady Asma Assad was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, the office of President Bashar Assad announced on Tuesday. The president's wife was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia “after presenting with several symptoms and following a comprehensive series of medical tests and examinations,” the official statement read.

Asma Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.(REUTERS)

Assad will “adhere to a specialized treatment protocol that includes stringent infection prevention measures” and “will temporarily withdraw from all direct engagements” as part of the treatment plan, it added. Asma Assad was treated for breast cancer earlier. A year after her diagnosis in August 2019, Assad announced that she was “completely” free of the disease.

Syrian first lady Asma Assad, who was born and raised in the United Kingdom, is a powerful and divisive figure. She is subject to Western sanctions and has been a highly controversial figure throughout the Syrian conflict.

Assad previously worked as an investment banker. In 2000, she quit her job and married then-President Bashar Assad. Since then, she has remained active in the public sphere, advocating for civil and charitable organizations. However, she has faced criticism for allegedly using her British education and Western demeanour to conceal the harshness of her husband's suppression of dissent.

Assad runs the Syria Trust for Development, an NGO that facilitates many of the aid and development operations in Syria. Last year, Assad also accompanied her husband, President Bashar al-Assad , on a visit to the United Arab Emirates. This was her first foreign official trip with him since 2011. The trip is seen as a sign of her growing role in public affairs.

The war in Syria, which resulted in nearly half a million deaths and displaced half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million, started in March 2011 with peaceful protests against Assad's government. The protests faced a harsh crackdown, rapidly escalating into a full-scale civil war.

(With inputs from Reuters)