Syria Feature: The Tour Guide Who Joined the Insurgency (Barnard)

A Camel Rider in PalmyraTo the tourists he took on sunset camel rides, Abu Zeid seemed like the freest man on earth.

He was a young Bedouin who worked with his camel, Casanova, among the ruins of ancient Palmyra, in the Syrian desert. He spent his days roaming Palmyra’s bare hills and stone colonnades, and his nights chatting online with foreign friends. In recent years, his biggest complaint with the government was that the police demanded bribes.

So his friends were astonished when he told them that he had joined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

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