Syrian president's mother has died aged 86

The mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has died at the age of 86, state media reported.

The former first lady, Anissa Makhlouf al-Assad, died in a hospital in the capital Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported.

The agency did not give a cause of death, but she has reportedly been in bad health for a number of years.

She was born in Latakia in 1930 and Anissa married Hafez al-Assad in 1957 and they had five children.