But the account had been covertly monitored by Syrian activists for many months, and a cache of some 3000 messages has been handed to the Guardian newspaper. The Guardian believes them to be genuine, having made extensive checks cross-referencing the content with historical events and contacting many of the third parties mentioned. For example, two emails from Sir Andrew Green, Britain's former ambassador in Syria, appear in the haul; and he has confirmed that they are genuine. Thomas Nagorski, ABC News's managing director, confirmed the time and content of his email seeking to arrange an Assad interview with Barbara Walters. “It is impossible to rule out the possibility of fakes in the email cache, but several pieces of evidence suggest they are authentic,” says the Guardian.
But after the Anonymous threat to take down the Syrian embassies around the world, further use of the accounts sam@alshahba.com and ak@alshahba.com by Bashar and Asma al-Assad ceased.
According to the Guardian, Syrian activists were given the username and password details of the couple by a mole within the president’s inner circle, allowing them to monitor the inboxes in real time for several months. “In several cases,” reports the Guardian, “they claim to have used information to warn colleagues in Damascus of imminent regime moves against them.” This is no longer possible.
The Guardian’s analysis of the emails shows him receiving advice from his father-in-law, a London-based doctor; using direct contact with individual trusted aides rather than formal lines of communication with government departments; his ridicule of his own promises of reform; and his ability to personally by-pass US sanctions by buying music and apps from iTunes via a US party and clothes for his wife via the Dubai-based company al-Shahba.