Kremlin denies reports Assad's wife has filed for divorce

The British-born woman of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is not a seeking divorce, a Kremlin spokesperson has said.

Reports successful Turkish media had suggested Asma al-Assad wanted to extremity her matrimony and permission Russia, wherever she and her hubby were granted asylum aft a rebel conjugation overthrew the erstwhile president's authorities and took power of Damascus.

Asked astir the reports successful a quality league call, Dmitry Peskov said, "No, they bash not correspond to reality."

He besides denied reports that Assad had been confined to Moscow and that his spot assets had been frozen.

Russia was a staunch state of the Assad authorities and offered it subject enactment during the civilian war.

But reports successful Turkish media connected Sunday suggested the Assads were surviving nether terrible restrictions successful the Russian capital, and that the erstwhile Syrian archetypal woman had filed for divorcement and wanted to instrumentality to London.

Mrs Assad is simply a dual Syrian-British national, but the UK overseas caput has antecedently said she would not beryllium allowed to instrumentality to Britain.

Speaking successful parliament earlier this month, David Lammy said: "I privation it confirmed that she's a sanctioned idiosyncratic and is not invited present successful the UK."

He added helium would bash "everything I tin successful my power" to guarantee nary subordinate of the Assad household "finds a spot successful the UK".

In a connection attributed to Bashar al-Assad past week, helium said helium had ne'er intended to fly Syria, but helium was airlifted from a Russian subject basal astatine Moscow's request.

Asma al-Assad, 49, was calved successful the UK to Syrian parents successful 1975 and grew up successful Acton, westbound London.

She moved to Syria successful 2000 astatine the property of 25 and joined her hubby conscionable months aft helium succeeded his begetter arsenic president.

Throughout her 24 years arsenic Syria's archetypal lady, Mrs Assad was a taxable of curiosity successful occidental media.

A arguable 2011 Vogue illustration called her "a roseate successful the desert" and described her arsenic "the freshest and astir magnetic of archetypal ladies". The nonfiction has since been removed from the Vogue website.

Just 1 period later, Mrs Assad was criticised for remaining soundless portion her hubby violently repressed pro-democracy campaigners astatine the commencement of the Syrian civilian war.

The struggle went connected to assertion the lives of astir fractional a cardinal people, with her hubby accused of utilizing chemic weapons against civilians.

In 2016, Mrs Assad told Russian state-backed tv she had rejected a woody to connection her harmless transition retired of the war-torn federation in bid to basal by her husband.

She announced she was being treated for bosom cancer successful 2018 and said she had made a afloat betterment 1 twelvemonth later.

She was diagnosed with leukaemia and began attraction for the illness successful May this year, the bureau of then-President Assad announced.

A connection said she would "temporarily withdraw" from nationalist engagements.