Syrian siren Sheheradaze "Sherry" Jaafari: Assad's top aide, or lowly intern?

Sheherezad "Sherry" Jaafari, the daughter of Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari, is a 22-year-old beauty who once bragged of working closely with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Reportedly fluent in five languages, Jaafari was accepted to a prestigious master's program at Columbia University. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

With Assad under international fire for his bloody crackdown against pro-democracy rebels, Jaafari is downplaying her former ties to the dictator. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

But there are reports she played up her past role as a "media adviser" to Assad when applying to the school's competitive program. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

If her current stance doesn't square with the way she represented herself in applying to the school, Columbia may have no choice but to rescind her acceptance. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Syrian-American groups that are aligned against Assad say it is disgraceful that such a prestigious school would accept someone with ties to the Assad regime. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Jaafari says she got into Columbia on her own merits, and dismissed reports that Barbara Walters helped her after Jaafari helped the news doyenne score a sitdown with Assad. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Her father, Bashar al-Jaafari, is Syria's ambassador to the United Nations. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

As a key member of the Assad regime, Jaafari and his family enjoy wealth and privilege in Manhattan. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Her father's future is tied to Assad - if the president becomes another Arab spring casualty, Jaafari will need a new line of work. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

Shown here with her parents, Sherry Jaafari is a graduate of Hunter College in Manhattan. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

As his nation's top diplomat, Bashar al-Jaafari and his family live in New York, where he can easily appear at the United Nations to serve as Bashar al-Assad's international spokesman. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)

While their homeland is mired in a bloody revolution, the family lives in a chic townhouse in Upper Manhattan. (SPLASH PHOTO SPECIAL TO FOXNEWS.COM)