By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

An aunt of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was secretly granted the right to live in the U.K. indefinitely in 2012 in return of a huge investment in the country, a British daily reported Wednesday.

The 63-year-old woman, who could not be named due to legal restrictions, is one of the four wives of Assad’s uncle Rifaat al-Assad, known as the ‘Butcher of Hama’ -- a nickname he was given after allegedly ordering the killing of up to 40,000 Syrians in 1982, The Telegraph reported.

The article said the decision to give the woman, who is referred as "LA" in legal documents, indefinite leave to remain in the U.K. was made in 2012 when Prime Minister Theresa May was the home secretary.

Her two sons, now aged 22 and 37, were allowed to stay at about the same time, according to the report.

Another son of Rifaat, one from a different mother, was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2014, it said.

A number of relatives of Assad and his British-born wife Asma live in the U.K., including her father Fawaz Akhras.

Corruption

Rifaat al-Assad, who is 80 years old, owns hundreds of properties in France, Spain and the U.K., many of which have now been seized, the daily said, adding that he is facing corruption and money-laundering charges in France.

He served as head of Syria's Defense Companies paramilitary unit in the 1970s and 80s but went into exile in Europe after a failed coup against his brother Hafez al-Assad in 1984.

Rifaat was considered the “muscle” behind the throne as a more brutal man than his brother, according to the daily.

Human Rights Watch reported that he was responsible for the massacre of more than 1,000 prisoners in the notorious Tadmur jail in 1980.

The report went onto say that Rifaat owns a £10 million ($12.7 million) Georgian mansion off Park Lane in central London and also has houses in London, Marbella, and France.

The case

According to the report, the details of the case came from a 37-page court ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

The family had brought the appeal claim after being denied British citizenship but the court rejected their claim.

According to the SIAC ruling, Rifat’s wife first came to the U.K. in 2006 and was given "entry clearance as an investor".

The daily reported that she told the Home Office that she was "investing in bonds, hedge funds etc" and was granted special entrance clearance.

Turning down the appeal for citizenship, the SIAC said the current relationship with Syria’s dictator Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian regime could not be fully assessed.

The decision said: "You are the wife of Rifaat al-Assad the uncle of President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria. Although widely reported as estranged from Bashar Al-Assad, Rifaat is the brother of Hafez Al-Assad (the late former president of Syria). Rifaat was a well-known and prominent member of his brother’s regime during the 1970s and 1980s -- a regime that is widely held to have committed crimes against humanity.

"Although it is not possible to assess the exact nature of your current relationship with Bashar Al-Assad and the Syrian regime, it is noted that the regime has become inextricably linked over the last few decades with the extended Assad family."

The Home Office explained that the U.K. plays a key role at the United Nations in “securing resolutions that condemn regime activity against civilians”, the daily also reported.

"In light of the above, the Home Secretary has determined that to grant you a certificate of naturalization would have an adverse impact on the U.K.’s international relations and therefore it would not be in the public interest to grant you British Citizenship," Home Office also said.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on protesters with unexpected ferocity.