As a scion of the Qatari royal family, Sheikha Mayassa al-Thani might seem an unusual choice to open a private channel of communication with the Assad family.
A frosty email exchange between Syria's first lady and the Emir of Qatar's daughter has lifted the veil on what appears to have been a secret diplomatic initiative to persuade President Bashar al-Assad to go into exile.
As a scion of the Qatari royal family, which has been more hostile to the Syrian regime than any other Arab government, Sheikha Mayassa al-Thani might seem an unusual choice to open a private channel of communication with the Assad family.
But the 14th child of the Emir of Qatar appears to have been in regular email contact with Asma al-Assad, the Syrian leader's British-born wife. The two women were clearly friends, perhaps arising from the holidays the Assad family would occasionally take in Doha, the Qatari capital, before the uprising.
"Dear Asma," wrote Sheikha Mayassa on December 7 last year. "In a recent trip to Turkey, the wife of the pm asked for your email address; she would like to write to you. I said id ask you first...best - m."
Remembering how Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, has publicly denounced her husband, Asma Assad gave a cold reply. "I would prefer she did not get my email - I use this account only for family and friends. It would be difficult at this stage to consider her in either category after the insults they have directed towards the president."
But Sheikha Mayassa, 28, gently persisted. "How can I help you?" she wrote again to Asma Assad. "I can't imagine you agree with what is going on - you've done such great work, it can't all be lost on the basis of weeks of bad policy."
In her final email, part of a trove obtained by the Arabic news service Al Arabiya and The Guardian, she appeared to offer the Assad family sanctuary in Qatar. "I honestly think that this is a good opportunity to leave and re-start a normal life - it can't be easy on the children, it can't be easy on you," she writes.
"I only pray that you will convince the president to take this as an opportunity to exit without having to face charges - I am sure you have many places to turn to, including Doha."
There is no sign of a response to this final email, dated January 30, suggesting that Sheikha Mayassa misjudged Asma Assad's mood and that Syria's first lady remained stubbornly loyal to her husband.
These messages were exchanged despite the fact that Qatar closed its embassy in Syria and recalled its ambassador on July 17 last year.
While having no formal diplomatic ties with Damascus, Qatar's ruling family kept open this channel to Syria with the apparent aim of using Asma Assad, 36, to ease her husband out of power and into exile.
"The Assads had often been in Qatar and they had established channels of communication with the al-Thanis [Qatar's royal family]," said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a Gulf specialist at the London School of Economics. "This was clearly an attempt to find a backchannel to communicate and try and resolve the issue under the table."
Other emails betray the irony that Asma Assad spent much of her time shopping online, notably from Harrods, which is effectively owned by Qatar.
While one member of the Qatari royal family was sending emails to Asma Assad, the country's government was openly backing the cause of Syria's rebels, who seek her husband's downfall.
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