Has the desert rose wilted?

As the wife of a dictator held responsible for the slaughter of his people, Asma al Assad finds herself in the shadows, writes Christopher Dickey

ASMA al Assad: Glamorous, charming, and smart, she was a darling of the Western press — until her dictator husband crossed the line.

Before her husband answered Syria’s peaceful revolution with ruthless slaughter, before the country began careering toward civil war, Western reporters routinely used words like “elegant” and “intelligent” to describe Asma al Assad.