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Al-ASSAD’S in-laws left their North West London suburb home a week ago - as rebel forces launched their advance on Damascus.

Heart doc Fawaz Akhras fled their terraced house in North Acton a week ago, according to their neighbours.

Bashar Assad's in-laws fled London home a week ago as Syrian rebels launched advance on Damascus
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Bashar Assad's in-laws fled London home a week ago as Syrian rebels launched advance on DamascusCredit: Rex
An opposition fighter steps on a bust of late Syrian President Hafez Assad in Damascus
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An opposition fighter steps on a bust of late Syrian President Hafez Assad in DamascusCredit: AP

Fawaz and his wife Shar Otri are the parents of Asma al-Assad, who married the deposed Syrian president in 2000 when he was studying in London.

A neighbour told The Sun: “The house has been empty for a week. They usually are around, so I think they may be hiding somewhere - but they have not come home for a week now.

“[Fawaz] had been there alone for the past four months, his wife was no longer living here.”

Harley Street cardiologist Fawaz since 2002 has also served as the director of the British Syrian Society which works to strengthen “relations at all levels between Britain and Syria.”

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One neighbour in their North Acton street said the couple had kept a low profile since mass protests sparked civil war in Syria more than a decade ago.

“They have been very quiet since 2012, and have been almost invisible since then,” she added.

Al-Assad’s wife, Asma, is said to have fled to Russia last week with the couple’s three children.

Head of Hafez al-Assad Statue Dragged Through Streets of Hama after Syrian rebel takeover
Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma arrive at the Elysee palace in Paris in 2008
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Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma arrive at the Elysee palace in Paris in 2008
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