Ammon News - Asma al-Assad is severely ill with leukaemia and has been isolated by doctors who have given her a “50/50” chance of survival, The Telegraph understands.

The British wife of the ousted Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, is being kept away from others to prevent infection and cannot be in the same room as anyone else.

Assad and his wife sought asylum in Moscow after his brutal regime lost its grip on power after 13 years of ruinous civil war.

Syria’s presidency announced in May this year that the then-first lady had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the bone marrow and the blood.

She had also been previously treated for breast cancer and in August 2019 announced that she was “completely” free of the disease after a year of treatment.

Her leukaemia is believed to have reappeared after a period of remission.

“Asma is dying,” said one source who has communicated directly with a representative of the family in recent weeks. “She can’t be in the same room with anyone [because of her condition].”

Another source, who has been in contact with the family in Moscow, said: “When leukaemia comes back, it’s vicious.

“She has been 50/50 in the last few weeks.”

The disclosure comes after reports that she is tired of restrictions placed on her in Moscow and is seeking treatment in London and wants a divorce.

The Assads have not commented on the reports, though the Kremlin later denied she was seeking to separate from her husband.

The telegraph