Yes, according to Bashar's former advisor Ayman Abdel-Noor. Around the time of the 2012 email hack she went to the airport with her son and daughter, aiming for London, but the plane was refused approval to take off. Cars from the presidential palace waited under the plane, and she returned home.

Not over the violence. Ayman and journalist Ibrahim Hamidi say it was about her marriage: Bashar allegedly slept with wives of top regime officials, some friends of Asma, and exchanged flirty emails with young female aides. Ibrahim called him a sex addict with zero moral about it, and says Asma knew.

Ayman says that after six months of no marriage contact, her father, London-based cardiologist Fawaz Akraz, brokered a deal: Bashar would keep behaving as he liked, but Asma got more power and freedom, especially in business. Dr Akhraz told the reporter the affairs claim is baseless and the deal is pure fantasy.

Emails hacked by opposition activists and leaked to CNN showed more than 50 messages about shopping. Using friends abroad to evade sanctions, Asma ordered handmade Paris jewellery, a fondue set, a chandelier and a Ming vase. Her friend Almayasa Al Thani, daughter of Qatar's leader, urged her to leave Syria.

Military photographer Farid photographed bodies of detainees, often tortured, and hid memory cards in his belt or shoe on a 20-minute drive through checkpoints. With his brother-in-law Osama he archived them, and in 2013 both families escaped. More than 27,000 images left Syria, around 6,700 showing identifiable murdered individuals.

Rami Makhlouf, Bashar's cousin and the regime's banker, controlled 60 percent of the economy and ran a microfinance bank competing with Asma's. Around the end of 2020 he was accused of owing millions in back taxes; regime insiders believe Asma was behind it, and people linked to her NGO network took over his companies.

Jihad Yazigi of the Syria Report says Rijal al-Sid were Asma's men in every city, without whom no big transaction could happen. No major real estate deal occurred without her knowledge, and businessmen who didn't comply were allegedly arrested, threatened or even tortured to hand over their businesses, on orders from her office.

An off-the-record aid-sector source said Asma created a network to capture as much humanitarian and development assistance as possible, and UN food was sold for cash by regime workers. UN agencies partnered with the Syria Trust for Development. Her father says no financial record or audit proves the allegation.

In a late 2016 Russia 24 interview, her first in eight years, Asma said she had been offered the chance to run from Syria, with guarantees of safety for her children and financial security. She called it a deliberate attempt to shatter confidence in the president and said the offers were foolish.

Inspired by the photos, which Farid presented in disguise to US Congress in 2014 and 2020, the Caesar Act massively extended sanctions on Syria. They specifically targeted Asma and her British family: father Fawaz, mother Sacha and two brothers. The Secretary of State called Asma a notorious war profiteer.