NEWS FLASH

Vogue Scrubs Flattering Profile Of Syrian First Lady Asma Al-Assad | Vogue’s controversial profile of Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad has been scrubbed from the Vogue website. The profile, “A Rose In The Desert,” described Asma al-Assad as “glamorous, young and very chic” and characterized her “central mission” as “to change the mind-set of six million Syrians under eighteen, encourage them to engage in what she calls ‘active citizenship.’” The profile, which went to press as Assad’s husband, Bashar al-Assad, began a bloody crackdown on political opponents resulting in the death of about 9,000 Syrians, has been a source of embarassment for Vogue. The wives of Western U.N. ambassadors have pleaded with Asma al-Assad to persuade her husband to end the violence but so far that request has seemingly been ignored. The article can still be viewed on Presidentassad.net, a pro-Assad website maintained by a Syrian journalist.