Syria’s former first lady reportedly prefers Western lifestyle and seeks return to London.

Asma al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, has reportedly filed for divorce after 24 years of marriage with the former Syrian dictator and wants to relocate from Moscow to London.

According Israeli and Turkish media, citing sources close to the Assad family, Asma is not happy with her status and living conditions in Moscow, where the family has been residing since fleeing Damascus following the fall of the Syrian regime on 8 December.

According to JFeed and CNN Türk, Asma, who holds both Syrian and British citizenship, has filed an application with Russian judicial authorities for special permission to leave the country.

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Before getting married to Bashar al-Assad in 2000, Asma (born Akhras, in London) graduated from King's College London in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in computer science and French literature.

She work as an economics analyst at Deutsche Bank Group in the hedge fund management division with clients in Europe and East Asia. In 1998, she joined the investment banking division of J.P. Morgan, being part of a team that specialized in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Her dream was to pursue later an MBA at Harvard University.

Whether the three children of the Assads are in Moscow with their parents and would follow their mother is not clear. Neither is clear whether Asma will be prosecuted in the United Kingdom for her support to the former regime. She’s been under European Union’s sanctions and has a travel ban to the E.U. since 2012.

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Bashar al-Assad, both a guest and hostage in the Russian capital, lives under strict restrictions in an unspecified location. Russian authorities have reportedly frozen his access to financial assets and prohibited him from leaving the city or engaging in political activities. Similar restrictions are allegedly imposed on his brother, Maher al-Assad, whose asylum application is still pending.

The Kremlin said last week that Bashar al-Assad’s had been offered asylum in Russia on humanitarian grounds following an orchestrated escape through the Khmeimim airbase. This operation allegedly involved staging a fake plane crash to cover his departure.

Reports also claim that in 2018–2019, the Syrian regime secretly sent planes loaded with cash - millions of dollars and euros - to Russia as part of a backup plan while Syria was struggling with a severe foreign currency crisis.

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