Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old Edinburgh University masters student and Middle East activist, poses in the lobby of his hotel, on June 13, 2011, in Istanbul. The US student based in Scotland apologized for writing the fake ''Gay Girl in Damascus'' blog, saying he feared the hoax could harm the efforts of real-life opponents of the Syrian regime. The Arraf character became a media sensation with her reports on the movement against President Bashar Al-Assad, posting as "an out Syrian lesbian's thoughts on life, the universe and so on."