Asma al-Assad
attended an event
Saturday called "Mother's Rally," according to a
single statement on her husband's
official Facebook page. The
event was a fundraiser for
mothers of "martyrs," or government
soldiers, killed in the two-year war.
Posted photos
show the 37-year-old
smiling, her hair in a ponytail. Children and
young women surround her. They seem overjoyed. A
few snap photos. One woman kisses the first lady on the cheek.
"The
regime is
trying to telegraph that it's
business as usual and she is a
way to do that,"
said Andrew Tabler, an
American expert on Syria who once
lived in the
country and interacted with the first
family. "Not only is this a sign that she's
standing by her man, but that the
core of the regime is
not cracking."