Did Bashar al-Assad derive some of his murderous staying power from this suggestive near-naked bombshell found baring all but her identity in his private inbox? The latest Assad-Gate revelation would suggest as much. With his track record of murder, he doesn't need to be 'busted' for adultery by his supportive wife as well as what remain of his supporters.
In amongst the curious disclosures to come out of the 'Assad Emails,' one revelation has captured the fancy of people more than any other. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was, if the findings of the Guardian's leaks are to be believed, sent a photograph of a near-naked woman posing provocatively on his personal email account. Apparently this is taking the pressure off the leader's brutalities but re-diverting the scrutiny to his personal life and the 'saucy' secrets in his cyber-closet.
The undated picture, discovered among thousands of emails from the personal accounts of Assad and his wife after their passwords were smuggled by opposition groups, showed the woman, clad only in scanty white lingerie, pressing herself against a wall as her clothes lay abandoned in a heap to the side.
The photograph was sent to Bashar al-Assad on December 11, 2011 - full swing into the Syrian crackdown - by a woman other than his wife, The Telegraph reports.
Aspersions are being cast by members from the Syrian opposition that this woman who bore all in email, may also have a second email account under an alias, which she used to send Assad a string of intimate messages.
This account appears to have been set up on December 1, 2011, and as an apparent test an email was sent to Assad's address saying simply "hi".
Around 18 minutes later he replied with the rejoinder "Hi and a half". (translated from an Arabic habbit of adding 'halves' or doubling for emphatic as well as playful effect).
The exchange becomes more flirtatious over several weeks, as they traded romantic music by favorite Lebanese singer Fairuz, leading to a gift token or voucher offering from Bashar to his presumed fancy woman, another exhibit in this treasure chest of incriminating evidence of foul-play.
On January 17, Assad received an email from the second account with a single Arabic character meaning "I love you" and on January 25 another email contains only an x, the popular sign for a kiss.
All the more intriguing given that there is considerable evidence in the emails that the Assads as a couple began to draw even closer together as the fighting grew fiercer in Syria. On December 28, his wife Asma wrote to him, "If we are strong together, we will overcome this together...I love you..".
