Assad's wife pregnant with 4th child

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DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Asma Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is pregnant and soon to give birth to the couple's fourth child, a Lebanese news report says.

Al-Akhbar, a newspaper in Beirut described as pro-Syrian, reported the news in a friendly profile of Assad, NBC News said.

"The man seems calm and in control," the newspaper said. "His confidence level stands out. Also, there's the news of the pregnancy of his wife Asma, which could not be dealt with as a simple personal matter between a couple."

Al Bawaba, an Arabic online news site, said recently Asma was five months pregnant in November, attributing the report to Syrian news agencies.

Syria has been in turmoil since early 2011, when large protests began. They have since escalated to a civil war that has killed thousands of people and turned hundreds of thousands into refugees.

Asma Assad was born in London to Syrian-British parents and grew up there. She married Bashar Assad in 2000, soon after he became president.

Vogue magazine published a profile titled "A Rose in the Desert" in 2011 that described Asma Assad as "glamorous, young and very chic -- the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies." The piece has since been removed from the Vogue website.