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Update: The Washington Post provides further background information on Tom MacMaster, the man who has admitted to writing the blog. He is a 40 year-old American from Georgia, and he is currently working on his master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He is on vacation in Turkey at the moment with his wife.

After a week of speculation, a man named "Tom MacMaster" has revealed himself to be the real person behind the popular Syrian-American blogger "Gay Girl in Damascus," in a post on the blog. He wrote that he "never expected this level of attention," and that "while the narrative voıce may have been fictional, the facts on thıs blog are true and not mısleading as to the situation on the ground." He added, "I do not believe that I have harmed anyone."

The blog 'Gay Girl in Damascus' advertised itself as being written by a Syrian-American woman named Amina Abdallah Araf, and attracted numerous readers and international attention for highlighting issues about being gay during the protest movement in Syria. But the attention intensified one week ago, after a blog post appeared by someone introducing herself as Araf's cousin, informing that the blogger was seized by three men while on her way to meet with protest organizers. A Facebook page sprouted up for Araf, including information about how to contact U.S. representatives from Virginia to facilitate her release.