Syria's official press confirmed Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, 35, had married a British-born computer science graduate, Asma Akhrass.
The newspaper, which did not say when the wedding took place or give the age of Assad's bride, said she was born in Britain, and had studied there.
December 5, a Syrian source in Paris had reported the wedding, saying at the time that Akhrass had studied economics in Britain. The wedding, the source added, would be made public at the end of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan, which ended December 26.
The daughter of a cardiologist residing in London, and member of a prominent Sunni family in Homs, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Damascus, Asma Akhrass is around ten years younger than Assad, who trained as an eye doctor, also in London, the Paris source said.
Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez in July, becoming the 16th Syrian president -- DAMASCUS (AFP)
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