Amina Abdallah’s reported abduction in Syria two days ago has opened up a whole series of unexpectedly baffling questions. It is understandable that someone in her situation would have to protect her identity as best she could, but that identity seems to have disappeared into a hall of mirrors. Ms. Abdallah, who blogs as “A Gay Girl in Damascus,” gained international attention in April when she reported in great detail evading arrest by Syrian security forces. She has since become a leading voice of resistance as the Assad regime brutally puts down the popular uprising against it. Now it appears that Abdallah’s identity cannot be independently confirmed. The Guardian wanders into the maze here.
The photo we posted yesterday (since taken down) is now known not to be her, even though the woman depicted in it has appeared in a number of different photographs that have been widely published for some time. That woman is in fact a resident of London and apparently has no relation to Abdallah.
