Israel Matzav

Damascus' Marie Antoinette

But as Asma Assad shelters in a bomb-proof bunker to avoid the horrors erupting within Syria – and to escape the US missiles expected soon to rain down on the country – she has become more of a Marie Antoinette figure, shopping for extravagant designer goods, food and health products online as the country collapses around her.

While more than 100,000 men, women and children have been killed and nearly two million Syrians have fled the country since March 2011, Asma, 38, recently splashed out on some Bohemian crystal chandeliers from Prague.

She also regularly orders Western food in bulk for her three children as she doesn’t want them to eat only Syrian food, according to an insider.

And in photographs posted on her Instagram account only last week, she is shown wearing a new blue £80 Jawbone UP on her right wrist – a device designed to help wearers keep track of how many steps they take and calories they burn.

The spending seems to have accelerated along with the killing in Syria. Last year, leaked emails showed she had ordered furniture – including five chandeliers – worth £270,000 from a shop on London’s King Road as her husband’s brutal quelling of the Syrian rebellion intensified.

Because of sanctions, the goods are imported to Syria through Lebanon.

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He added: ‘She is convinced her family will rule Syria for years to come. And she is particularly interested in growing the family wealth and making sure they keep it.

'She wants to be certain her son, Hafez, will take over as president one day, even if this means hiding him in a school or college in Switzerland or Britain for a time.’

Of her recent purchases, Mr Nour said: ‘Asma Assad has no heart. She is obsessed by how chic and beautiful she looks. She continues to lead a life of utter luxury. That’s all that matters to her.’

Other insiders, who do not want to be named, claim that Asma now travels with at least three Republican bodyguards whenever she goes out and is prevented from seeing any Western news, or from surfing the internet, in case she finds coverage of the Syrian crisis ‘depressing.’

Another critic of the regime, who cannot be named for political reasons, said: ‘Asma still loves her shopping and buys as much as she can to keep her mind off the chaos around her. The idea that she is under Assad’s control and can’t leave is nonsense, but her ability to watch Western media is strictly controlled.’

Labels: Asma al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad, Syria, Syrian uprising

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:20 PM