Image Source:
Syrianhistory.com Archive
Djamila Bouhired was famous in Syria for opposing French colonial rule of Algeria, as a member of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN). In April 1957, she was wounded in a shootout and arrested by the French. She was tortured with electricity and then sentenced to death. Her execution was stopped after a media campaign by her French lawyer, and future husband, Jacques Verges, and she was released in 1962.
Standing behind the Syrian President is his wife, First Lady Bahira al-Dalati.