<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Non Chosen News Blog]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://ncnblogger.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[AdamS]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://ncnblogger.wordpress.com/author/adamncnblogger/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Syrian lesbian blogger is revealed conclusively to be a married&nbsp;man]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><em>Woo, hoo hoo. I let my imagination wander a little as to who might be responsible for this. I wasn&#8217;t that far off now was I?</em></p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The mysterious identity of a young Arab lesbian blogger who was apparently kidnapped last week in <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Syria" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria">Syria</a> has been revealed conclusively to be a hoax. The blogs were written not by a gay girl in Damascus, but a middle-aged American man based in <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Scotland" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland">Scotland</a>.</p>
<p>Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old <a title="More from guardian.co.uk on Middle East" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast">Middle East</a> activist studying for a masters at Edinburgh University, posted an update declaring that, rather than a 35-year-old feminist and lesbian called Amina Abdallah Araf al Omari, he was &#8220;the sole author of all posts on this blog&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;I never expected this level of attention,&#8221; he wrote in a posting allegedly emanating from &#8220;Istanbul, Turkey&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;The events [in the Middle East] are being shaped by the people living them on a daily basis. I have only tried to illuminate them for a western audience.&#8221;&#8221;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/syrian-lesbian-blogger-tom-macmaster">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/13/syrian-lesbian-blogger-tom-macmaster</a></p></blockquote>
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