The picture of Omran Daqneesh motionless and shell-shocked in the back of an Aleppan ambulance broke the hearts of countless social media users last week. The photo was a brief glance of the deteriorating conditions in Aleppo, which has witnessed intense fighting between the regime and rebel groups over the past several weeks and beyond.
The photographer, Mahmoud Rslan, has been praised for his reportage in Aleppo and conducted numerous interviews with various English and Arabic language media outlets.
However, the prolific photographer has drawn ire from some observers for what appear to be pictures of him with members of the Nour al-Din al-Zinky movement - the same members who videoed themselves beheading a 12 year old Palestinian boy last month. A Russia Today article reported the picture, which has been written on in a way to suggest that Rslan is connected to the head-cutting rebels.
محمود رسلان المصور الإرهابي الذي يعمل مع جماعة الزنكي الإرهابية وصور فظائعها .. فبرك صورة الطفل عمران. pic.twitter.com/TnksUgycLw
— AMEEN #عقلانيون (@Ameen_media) August 20, 2016
“Mahmoud Rslan, the terrorist photographer who works with the al-Zinky terrorist group and filmed their attrocities… He fabricated the picture of Omran.”
In light of the anger directed towards him on social media for his alleged involvement with the killers, Al Bawaba reached out to Rslan, who spoke with us about his work in Aleppo and his relationships with local resistance groups. Rslan says he doesn’t have any kind of personal relationship with al-Zinky, and that the photos were simply necessitated by his line of work.
“I would never work with any group that disagrees with my personal beliefs, but sometimes we have to take pictures with them,” Rslan told Al Bawaba.
Rslan covers rebel-held east Aleppo for a variety of publications including Al Jazeera, and photos of various rebel factions are therefore a regular part of his work.
“We as journalists in Aleppo operate in areas controlled by the resistance only”, said Rslan. “In the areas that we operate, nobody interferes with us at all, and the various factions of the resistance treat us very well.”
On why he took the seemingly friendly pic with al-Zinky members, he said he regularly takes selfies with whoever he interviews, and that the al-Zinky pics were nothing special.
“I normally take hundreds of selfies with whoever I see on the fronts. We who work in press take hundreds of pictures that we keep in our archives.” He sent Al Bawaba several of these pics to corroborate his claims.
And on the death of the boy last month at the hands of al-Zinky, Rslan said “I don’t know who killed the boy, and I don’t know [al-Zinky’s] leadership closely. I’m a journalist who works with Al-Jazeera. I’m a freelancer.”
Moreover, some on Twitter accused Rslan of supporting suicide bombers, based on Facebook posts of his.
Best activist ever. pic.twitter.com/GCMu13xPxB
— Lina Arabi (@LinaArabii) August 19, 2016
Further observation reveals that the word translated as "suicide fighter" by some observers isn't quite as straightforward as initially translated. The Arabic word "inghasami", refers to a specific kind of fighter who wears a suicide vest or operates out of a booby-trapped vehicle but only detonates his explosive when tactically beneficial.
"An inghasami operation is a form of attacking I've seen a number of fighters enter the battle against the regime and take control of areas without a single one of them [inghasami fighter] being killed."
But the connotation is enough to question whether he supports such operations, even if the tactic rides a fine line in jihadi terminology. For his part, Rslan was direct with AlBawaba: "I do not support suicide operations ... I don't support [inghasami operations], but I record them with my camera. This is what every journalist wants to document - Journalism has no relationship whatsoever with terrorism."
His explanation may not suffice for those critical of rebel actions in Syria’s civil war, but this is not a concern for Rslan, who makes his position on the conflict clear. Through his pictures, Rslan hopes to - at the very least - present the suffering of the people of Aleppo to the world, and effect political change in the country.
“My hope is that my pictures will help to end the bombings,” he said. “And (I hope they help) assist with making a political solution as soon as possible - one that involves the removal of Assad from power.”
JC
Editor's note: This article was edited after publishing to include further information on the interviewees position and statements on suicide bombings.
