‘Gay girl in Damascus’ blogger feared kidnapped
Relatives of Amina Abdallah, author of the “Gay Girl in Damascus” blog, say she has been abducted.
Ms Abdallah, a 35-year-old English teacher whose candid blog has made her a prominent and admired figure in the Syrian uprising, was allegedly seen being bundled into a car by suspected security agents on Monday.
The disappearance of Ms Abdallah, who holds dual American and Syrian citizenship, has prompted Facebook and Twitter campaigns demanding her release.
A post on her website written by a woman saying she was Ms Abdallah’s cousin said the blogger had been grabbed by armed men on her way to a meeting.
Rania Ismail wrote: “Amina was seized by three men in their early 20s . . . one of the men then put his hand over Amina’s mouth and they hustled her into a red Dacia Logan.”
CNN News said that the claims made on the blog could not be verified and that attempts to contact Ms Abdallah’s family and officials in Damascus and at the Syrian embassy in London, have failed.
Ms Ismail wrote that Ms Abdallah, who in her blog has challenged taboos in Syria – a country where homosexuality is illegal but unofficially tolerated – had feared she may be abducted.
The blogger, who says she was born in Virginia to an American mother and Syrian father, last posted to her page on Monday.
Speaking to CNN last month, she said: “A whole lot of long-time changes are coming suddenly bubbling to the surface and views towards women, gay people and minorities are rapidly changing.”
