敘總統與英女博士800封情書曝光

Assad's mystery woman who 'loves him' is getting PhD

中國日報網 2012-07-09 14:21

Something to hide? Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's close friendship with an aide has been revealed by Wikileaks.(Agencies)

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A key aide of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is to be awarded a prestigious degree by one of Britain’s top universities. Lamis Omar has been studying for a doctorate at Durham, and is likely to receive her PhD in September.

Emails obtained by the Wikileaks website suggest that Ms Omar enjoys a close friendship with Assad. Fellow students say she had a large picture of the dictator on the wall of her home in the university grounds.

Officials at Durham University refused to say whether the institution has accepted money from the Assad regime in tuition fees.

The emails appear to show that for the past four years, Ms Omar, who is believed to be in her mid-30s, has been working in Assad’s own department, known as the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

In more than 800 email exchanges between the pair, a picture emerges of a world of poetry and jokes.

They appear to have a close friendship, in which he buys her gifts and she repeatedly says that she ‘loves’ him. In the emails she refers to Assad, who has been married to British-born Asma, 37, for 12 years, as the ‘sponsor’ of her course.

Tory MP Robert Halfon said: ‘Ethical questions need to be asked as to why Durham University is providing an education to a member of the Assad regime. Given the murder of thousands of Syrians by the Assad regime, Durham should reconsider whether it awards this PhD.’

At Durham, her PhD thesis was on Shakespeare. Last night Durham University said: ‘We do not comment on the financial circumstances of individual students. Durham University does not have any formal or active links with the Syrian Government.’

A member of the House of Lords charged thousands of pounds to redesign the summer palace of Bashar al-Assad, emails obtained by Wikileaks reveal.

Lord Kenilworth was hired to create a luxuriant new garden, including a spectacular water feature, at the Syrian dictator’s country residence near the coastal city of Latakia, the site of fierce fighting between government forces and rebels.

The firm was commissioned by Assad in 2010. Initial stages of the work were priced at ￡176,500, with more bills to follow. Last night Lord Kenilworth said only: ‘We stopped working there 18 months ago. I can’t comment any further.’

(Read by Rosie Tuck. Rosie Tuck is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)

敘利亞總統巴沙爾?阿薩德的一位重要的女助手拉米斯?奧馬爾將獲得英國一所頂尖大學頒發的聲望很高的博士學位。拉米斯?奧馬爾正在杜倫大學攻讀博士，可能于今年9月份獲得學位。

維基解密網站所截獲的電子郵件顯示，奧馬爾與阿薩德關系非常親密。她的同學反映說，她在杜倫大學住所的墻上掛著一張阿薩德的大幅照片。

杜倫大學方面拒絕透露學校是否收取了來自阿薩德政權的學費。

郵件顯示，大約35歲的奧馬爾過去四年里一直在阿薩德的個人機構---總統事務部工作。

維基解密網站公布了所截獲的800多封電子郵件，這些電郵充滿了詩歌和笑話。

他們看起來關系很親密。阿薩德為她買禮物，而她一再表示她“愛”他。她還在電郵中把他稱作自己學費的“贊助商”。阿薩德與現年37歲的妻子、出生于英國的阿斯瑪結婚已有12年。

英國保守黨國會議員羅伯特?阿爾豐說：“杜倫大學為什么招收了一名來自阿薩德政權的成員，這牽涉到道德問題。鑒于阿薩德政權害死了成千上萬的敘利亞人，杜倫大學應該重新考慮是否頒發這個博士學位。”

奧馬爾在杜倫大學所寫的博士論文是有關莎士比亞的。杜倫大學昨晚表示，“我們不會評價某個學生的經濟狀況。學校與敘利亞政府沒有任何正式或主動的聯系。”

維基百科解密的郵件還顯示，英國上議院一位議員收取了數千英鎊為阿薩德重新設計夏宮。