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March 15, 2012

Assad Email Leak Reveals Inside Info on Syrian Regime 
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The Guardian newspaper has obtained what appears to be a trove of more
than 3,000 emails downloaded from the private accounts of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma. The emails show Assad took
advice from Iran or its proxies on ways to handle the uprising against
him as well as mocking the reforms he promised to put in place in
response. They also show Assad was briefed in detail about the presence
of western journalists in the Baba Amr area of Homs. The emails, which
were intercepted by opposition activists, include messages from a
daughter of the emir of Qatar advising the Assads to leave Syria and
perhaps find exile in Doha. They show Assad’s wife spending thousands
of dollars in online purchases while Assad skirted U.S. sanctions by
buying music from i Tunes. The Syrian leader also forwarded a link to a
You Tube video that used toys and biscuits to reenact the siege of Homs.
The United Nations estimates more than 8,000 people have died in
Assad’s crackdown against the year-long uprising.



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