Assad, Asma al-Assad, is said to be battling leukemia, with doctors giving her a '50/50' chance of survival. The 49-year-old and her husband are currently in Moscow after being forced into exile when Islamist rebels overthrew Assad's brutal regime.

Bashar al-Assad ’s critically ill wife will not be allowed to return to the UK for cancer treatment after her British passport expired, according to reports. The 49-year-old, born in London to Syrian parents, served as Syria ’s First Lady until her husband was overthrown last month.

London-born Asma Al-Assad is said to have a "50-50" chance of surviving leukaemia, but won't be allowed back to the UK after her passport expired, reports claim

A lightning rebel offensive early this month caught Syria’s ruling clan off guard. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia on December 8, leaving behind many of his collaborators, some of whom sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

Israel is celebrating the fall of Assad because it breaks the noose that Iran had been patiently tightening around Israel’s borders in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Tehran’s pincer is now broken and rendered useless. From the point of view of Israel’s wider conflict with the Islamic Republic, the collapse of Assad’s regime is a strategic victory.

Once a London schoolgirl, Asma al-Assad went from being Syria’s “desert rose” to a reviled figure.