Syrian civil war: Syria First Lady Asma Al-Assad ‘rejected offer of asylum’

Asma al-Assad revealed she believed those offering her a new home were attempting to sabotage her husband Bashar’s presidency.

In an interview with Russian state-backed television, she refused to say who made the offer.

Mrs Assad also thanked Russia for its “noble efforts” supporting the regime.

Mrs Assad, whose social media pages are full of pictures of her assembly orphans and the injured, told Rossiya 24: “I’ve been here since the beginning and I never thought of being anywhere else at all.

“Yes I was offered the opportunity to leave Syria or rather to run from Syria. These offers included guarantees of safety and protection for my children and even financial security.

“It doesn’t take a genius to know what these people were really after. It was a deliberate attempt to shatter people’s confidence in their president.”

The Syrian civil war started after pro-democracy campaigners demanding that Mr Assad step aside took to the streets in March 2011, and were violently repressed by the authorities.

The UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, estimated earlier this year as many as 400,000 people have died in the resulting violence.