Leila Mustapha seems out of place. Almost anywhere else the skinny jeans, leather-bomber jacket wearing 30-year-old probably wouldn't draw a second look.The Autonomous Administration of North East Syria has enshrined gender equality and religious freedom in law
Many hope it will mark the start of new beginnings, but the removal of US troops could leave the young democracy vulnerable Turkey has pledged to invade northern Syria, fearing autonomy there will embolden Kurds inside Turkey to rise up But we're in Raqqa, the once notorious capital of the so-called Islamic State, where women were confined to the house and could only be seen in public in full covering with a male guardian."Give me a minute to finish my cigarette, just don't film me smoking," she says as she flips back loose hair that's come out of a slicked-back messy bun.
While I wouldn't ordinarily film someone smoking, Raqqa's female Civil Council leader puffing away in her office would've been a simple way to show how far the city has come since it pushed Islamic State out two years ago.
Western journalists ar so stupid...