Family of Assad’s wife address ‘divorce’ amid calls for UK passport to be SCRAPPED trapping her in Putin’s ‘Golden Cage’

The family of Bashar al-Assad’s wife has broken their silence over rumors that the dictator is divorcing.

It comes amid growing calls for British-born Asma al-Assad – who stood by as her husband was killed – to have her British passport torn up.

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma fled the country to RussiaCredit: AFP

Bashar and Asma married in 2000, the same year that Assad suddenly inherited the dictatorship in Syria

Ousted Assad and his wife face living out their days trapped in a “golden cage” in exile in Moscow.

After fleeing the uprising in Syria that ended their two decades of dictatorship, the Assads turned to friend Vladimir Putin for help.

They hopped on a jet and flew to Russia – and haven’t been seen in public since.

Rumors began circulating yesterday that Asma – who married Assad when he became president – was seeking a divorce and wanted to return to the UK.

Her family has since hit back at the claims that came from the Turkish media.

Asma’s father Fawaz Akhras told The Daily Beast: “I can confirm that the reports are false.”

Asma, known for her intelligence and charm, was said to be unhappy with her life under Putin’s baton in Moscow.

It is said that he is being treated for acute myeloid leukemia, an aggressive form of cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

And it was reported that she would prefer to be treated in the UK.

Her father, a cardiologist from London, said: “She is receiving the best possible treatment.”

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Asma asked the Russian court for permission to leave Russia and go to Britain, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Even if Asma wins the court case, entry into the UK seems unlikely.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy previously said Asma was no longer welcome in the UK, implying she could soon lose her British passport.

Losing her passport would place Asma among the notorious terror-inspired British émigrés like Shamima Begum, Jack Letts or the IS Beatles.

Lammy told MPs: “I want it confirmed that she is a sanctioned person and that she is not welcome here in the UK.

“I will do everything I can to ensure that none of that family finds a place in the UK.”

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, told The Telegraph: “It would be an insult to the millions of Assad’s victims if his wife were to return to a life of luxury in the UK.”

“The UK government sanctioned it for a reason – the Assad family is responsible for some of the worst crimes of modern times.”

Asma was born and raised in London, and she and Bashar lived together in the city before that.

Assad and Asma arrive at the Elysee Palace in Paris in 2008. Credit: AFP

Assad is now hiding in Moscow under the protection of friends PutinCredit: Reuters

If banned from the UK, Syria’s exiled first family would face being trapped in the “golden cage” of Russian tyrant Putin, a Russian political analyst has warned.

Pro-opposition political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky claimed that Asma wants to return to London and return to investment banking.

He said: “Life in Moscow, Russia – in a golden cage – is no longer satisfactory for Asma Assad.

“Western intelligence agencies express extreme concern for the physical safety of Asma.”

The former Russian prime minister described Putin’s golden cage as a lifetime under Kremlin control.

Mikhail Kasyanov wrote in a recent memoir that Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, had his phone tapped and that the Kremlin controlled his visitors after he left office in 2000.

However, Yeltsin spent his retirement in a state-owned luxury villa and was often seen at major sporting events.

Asma was reportedly undergoing cancer treatment in Moscow but wanted to go to London insteadCredit: AFP

Despite wanting to move to Britain, Asma will live the ultra-rich life in MoscowCredit: AFP

Kasyanov wrote: “Yeltsin was very upset that he was forced to celebrate his birthday in the Kremlin, and not as he wanted, freely, informally.

“I think that’s when he finally realized that he was living as a prisoner in a golden cage. To accept that fact was, of course, a tragedy for him.”

Despite being in Moscow, the pair will be living the life of the ultra-rich after moving around 270kg of gold and £1.6billion.

Assad and his clan are believed to own dozens of apartments in the Russian capital.

These include luxury properties in the 990ft City of Capitals complex and the nearby 1226ft Federation Tower.

His extended family owns dozens of properties there and elsewhere in Moscow, but the family is now believed to be living in official Russian government accommodation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected claims that Asma had filed for divorce.

He said, “No, they don’t correspond to reality.”

The despot and his family were offered safe haven by Vladimir Putin, who took the ousted president out of Syria on December 8 – shortly before his country fell to rebels.

Who is Asma al-Assad?

Sayan Bose, foreign correspondent

DEPOSED dictator Bashar al-Assad’s British-born wife was once seen as a symbol of women’s freedom and empowerment in the repressive Middle East.

But it didn’t take long for Asma al-Assad, who has been described as a “Rose in the desert”, to become a trademark of oppression as she served as the “First Lady of Hell”.

The former first lady of Syria is now in exile in Russia after Islamic rebels toppled the regime of her butcher husband, ousting the dictator and his family.

Born in England in 1975, Asma is the daughter of Fawaz Akhras, 78, a consultant cardiologist, and Sahar, 75, a diplomat in the Syrian embassy.

She grew up in a £1 million mansion in west London and graduated in computer science from King’s College.

She met Assad in the 1990s, and they married in 2000.

As the first lady of Syria, Asma – who does not wear a burka or a veil to cover her face – left a strong impression of an independent woman on the world stage.

She told a friend that she is the “real dictator” in the family, writes The Telegraph.

Asma symbolized the relatively liberal political climate in Syria where women had more rights than in other Islamic nations and shaped Assad’s image as a moderate leader.

In 2010, Vogue magazine described her as a “desert rose” and “a long-limbed beauty with a trained analytical mind”.

But her liberal fame was short-lived and quickly crumbled when her husband began a brutal saga of torture and bloodshed against the Syrians.

Assad began wiping out opposition groups in the city of Homs, sparking the Syrian Civil War in which 500,000 people were killed and six million left as refugees.

As a strong supporter of her husband, Asma allegedly orchestrated policies for his oppressive regime that controlled everything from internet access to reduced food rations.

She controlled the main economic policies in the country which were labeled as repressive.

As her role in the Assad dictatorship grew, she could not maintain her early image as a liberated woman operating at the center of power in a Muslim country.

Her name soon became synonymous with her husband’s brutal regime – and she ended up sanctioned by many countries for her role during the Syrian civil war.