Asma al-Assad is beautiful, was raised in a democracy and is loved by many, but her deathly silence as thousands of people are killed by her husband's security forces has drawn heavy criticism.
Asma, the 36-year-old wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, hasn't been heard from since the slaughter of anti-regime protesters began in the country 11 months ago. Until now.
In an email published in The Times in London Wednesday, she expressed support for her dictator husband while stating she "comforts" the "victims of violence."
The email also purportedly stated that Asma is "equally involved in bridging gaps and encouraging dialogue" and that her busy schedule "is still focused on supporting the various charities she has long been involved with and rural development."
Her message drew attacks from many fronts.
"It's simply not credible," Chris Doyle of the Council for Arab-British Understanding told 麻豆影视 in an interview Saturday.
"How can you continue the charitable work in this climate? She can't and she knows it. So, either she's delusional or she thinks she can cater to everybody in the outside world," he said.
Asma, the British-born and educated daughter of a Syrian cardiologist, was once welcomed as a "breath of fresh air" in Syria. Her warm and caring nature endeared her to a public long cynical of its leadership.
"When she came to Syria as a First Lady, people had really high hopes that she grew up in a democracy," London-based Syrian activist Ghias Al-Jundi told 麻豆影视.
But since the uprising began, her silence has enraged former supporters, especially in her family's hometown of Homs, the central Syrian city that's under siege as security forces attempt to stamp out opposition by force.
Asma is not a member of her husband's minority Shiite sect Alawite, but a Sunni Muslim. Alawites make up about 12 per cent of Syria's population but are the majority in the ruling Ba'ath party. About 74 per cent of the population is Sunni.
Some people inside and outside Syria believe she's being prevented from leaving the country with the couple's three children.
But Asma portrayed a different image of Bashar al-Assad in a 2005 television interview.
"I know the father he is to his children and I know the husband that he is to me, and more importantly I know that he's a man who cares and wants to push Syria forward," she said at the time.
However, television images of dead and wounded children, daily barrages of rockets and mortars into her hometown, may not be the way Asma envisioned her husband carrying Syria forward.
And, perhaps it's her image as a breath of fresh air and potential inspiration for change, that now lies in ruins also.
Even her parents' home in London has come under fire by vandals, signifying Asma's fall from grace.
With a report from CTV's Ben O'Hara-Byrne in London
