Syrian First Lady Asma Assad has been diagnosed with leukemia, the office of President Bashar Assad announced 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 statement said.
Asma 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.
This is not the first time Asma Assad has faced a serious health challenge. She was previously treated for breast cancer, announcing in August 2019 that she was “completely” free of the disease a year after her diagnosis.
Born and raised in the United Kingdom, although her family is originally from central Syria, Asma Assad is a powerful and divisive figure. She is under western sanctions and has been highly controversial during the Syrian conflict. Before marrying Bashar Assad in 2000, she was an investment banker.
Since then, she has maintained a public role, promoting civil and charity groups. However, she has been accused of using her British education and Western style to try to mask the brutality of her husband’s crackdown on dissent.
The Syrian civil war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, began as peaceful protests against Assad’s government in March 2011.
The protests were met with a brutal crackdown, and the revolt quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.
