Bashar's secret emails revealed

Bashar Al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be several thousand emails received and sent by the Syrian leader and his wife, it was revealed Thursday. The Syrian leader was also briefed in detail about the presence of western journalists in the Baba Amr district of Homs and urged to "tighten the security grip" on the opposition-held city in November, the Guardian newspaper reported in an exclusive story. The revelations are contained in more than 3,000 documents that activists say are emails downloaded from private accounts belonging to Assad and his wife, Asma, the newspaper added. The messages, which have been seen by the Guardian, are said to have been intercepted by members of the opposition Supreme Council of the Revolution group between June and early February. The documents, which emerge on the first anniversary of the rebellion that has seen more than 8,000 Syrians killed, paint a portrait of a first family remarkably insulated from the mounting crisis and continuing to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. Bashar and Asma Al-Assad. They appear to show the president's wife spending tens of thousands of dollars on internet shopping sprees for designer goods while he swaps entertaining internet links on his iPad and downloads dance music from iTunes. "As the world looked on in horror at the brutal suppression of protests across the country and many Syrians faced food shortages and other hardships, Mrs Assad splashed out on more than 10,000 pounds-worth (15,000 dollars) of candlesticks, tables, and chandeliers from Paris and instructed an aide to order a fondue set from Amazon." The paper said it has made extensive efforts to authenticate the emails by checking their contents against established facts and contacting 10 individuals whose correspondence appears in the cache. These checks suggested that the messages were genuine, although it has not been possible to verify every one. The emails also appear to show that: Assad established a network of trusted aides who reported directly to him through his "private" email account, bypassing both his powerful clan and the country's security apparatus. Assad made light of reforms he had promised in an attempt to defuse the crisis, referring to "rubbish laws of parties, elections, media." "A daughter of the emir of Qatar, Hamid bin Khalifa Al-Thani, this year advised Asma Al-Assad and her husband to leave Syria and suggested that Doha may offer them exile." Assad sidestepped extensive US sanctions against him by using a third party with a US address to make purchases of music and apps from Apple's iTunes. The emails appear to show how Assad assembled a team of aides to advise him on media strategy and how to position himself in the face of increasing international criticism of his regime's attempts to crush the uprising, which is now thought to have claimed more than 10,000 lives, the daily added. Activists say they were able to monitor the inboxes of Assad and his wife in real time for several months. In several cases they claim to have used fresh information to warn colleagues in Damascus of imminent regime moves against them. The access continued until February 7, when a threatening email arrived in the inbox thought to be used by Assad after the account's existence was revealed when the Anonymous group separately hacked into a number of Syrian government email addresses, it continued. All correspondence to and from the two addresses ceased on the same day. Ahead of a speech in December, his media consultant prepared a long list of themes, reporting that the advice was based on "consultations with a good number of people in addition to the media and political adviser for the Iranian ambassador." The memo advised the president to use "powerful and violent" language and to show appreciation for support from "friendly states". It also advised that the regime should "leak more information related to our military capability" to convince the public that it could withstand a military challenge.