Syrian President Bashar Assad And His Wife
In this July 13, 2010 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his wife, Asma Assad, listen to explanations as they visit a technology plant in Tunis. An article in Vogue in March, 2011, published just as protests began, hailed the 36-year-old, university educated Asma Assad as a “Rose in the Desert.” EU foreign ministers have since slapped sanctions on her, and she has been criticized for standing by her husband <AP/Newsis>