The popular 'A Gay Girl in Damascus' author is shrouded in
mystery after a case of mistaken identity.
The Guardian reported that a London woman, Jelena Lecic, issued a
statement saying pictures reported to be of Amina Arraf - who blogs
under the name Amina Abdallah - was in fact of Lecic herself.
Other reports have begun to question whether Abdallah even
exists.
Although the original photograph was a fake, activists in Syria
have gone to great lengths to protect their identity, fearing
personal retribution from President Assad's regime, who continue
their onslaught against protestors since the start of the Arab
Spring movement.
Despite the confusion, there is still no news over the whereabouts
of the blogger, who was reportedly kidnapped on 6 June by armed men
from the Syrian security forces, according to the blog post.
A Facebook page campaigning to free Amina, which has over 14,000
supporters, conceded: "Questions about Amina's identity are
surfacing. However, we think it is possible that the writer of the
blog is indeed in custody, in which case, it is important to
continue to support her.
"Many people in Syria are forced to use alternative identities to
protect themselves. However, administrators of this site cannot
verify her identity," the supporters added.
