Syria’s first lady says she turned down offers to leave Syria to strengthen her husband

Syria’s first lady has said she refused to leave the country because she did not want people to lose confidence in her husband.

Asma al Assad told the Russia-24 news channel: “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 never about my wellbeing or my children – it was a deliberate attempt to shatter people’s confidence in their president.”

She was speaking as Russian and Syrian planes halted their bombing of the city of Aleppo ahead of Russia’s proposed ceasefire later this week.