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Monday, October 04, 2010

Teenage Syrian blogger accused of being US spy

Remember Tal al-Mallohi, the 19-year old student (inexplicably still in high school) who had blogged some poems and anti-Israel diatribes, who was arrested by Syria in 2009 and not heard from since?

Some thought that she was arrested because she had mildly criticized the lack of freedom of expression allowed in Syria. But a Syrian newspaper is claiming that, no, she's accused of being a spy.

A "senior source" tells the Syria News site that she was arrested as being involved in the assassination attempt of a Syrian officer in Cairo last November. The source said that an American woman working at the US embassy had recruited her to spy on Syrian officials in Cairo, leading to the assassination attempt.

I don't know if Tal was in Cairo in November - her blog stops in September - but she doesn't seem bright enough to be a useful spy. Syrians seem to be mocking the idea that she is a secret agent, as are Egyptians.