Mustafa al-Haj - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Mustafa al-Haj

Mustafa al-Haj is a pseudonym for a Syrian journalist based in Syria.

Protesters destroy Hafez al-Assad statue in Suwayda

Facebook users take aim at crime, security checkpoints, life in Syria

Fighting returns to Zabadani after truce fails

A family walks at a site hit by what activists said was an airstrike by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, at the eastern Ghouta of Damascus June 5, 2015. REUTERS/Amer Almohibany - RTX1F8QO

Civilians 'biggest losers' of opposition infighting in eastern Ghouta

Syrian online satirical show gains popularity

EDITOR'S NOTE: REUTERS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY CONTENT OF VIDEO FROM WHICH THIS STILL IMAGE WAS TAKEN.

A member of the Free Syria Army with an assault rifle stands guard during a patrol in the western border town of Zabadani in this undated still image taken from amateur video obtained by Reuters January 16, 2012. Masked gunmen prowl the rain-swept streets of the once-relaxed Syrian hill resort, which they have transformed into a hub of revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Zabadani, hugging

Regime forces tighten noose on opposition in Zabadani

Syrian radio station examines role of women in war

Workers and members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent unload boxes of humanitarian and medical aid in the rebel-controlled area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr October 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4BWB4

Syrian AIDS patients suffer in silence

People sit in a shop as they watch TV broadcasting Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaking as he is sworn in for a new seven-year term, in Damascus July 16, 2014. Al-Assad, who was sworn in for a new term on Wednesday, said Western and Arab states that have supported "terrorism" will pay a "high price" and that he would fight insurgents until security was restored to the whole country.
REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3YVXN

War puts Syrians on unexpected career paths

Rebel fighters fire a mortar towards forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad who are stationed in Tel Merhi and Deir Adass villages, from the northwestern countryside of Deraa February 18, 2015. Heavy fighting in southern Syria has killed scores of pro-government and insurgent fighters in the past week, a group monitoring Syria's war said on Sunday, forecasting even fiercer violence as the weather clears. Picture taken February 18. REUTERS/Wsam Almokdad (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLIC

Syria opposition forces claim regime attack in Daraa futile

Residents warm themselves by a fire on New Year's Eve in eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus December 31, 2014. Residents have been facing an electricity blackout for 2 years, activists said. Picture taken December 31, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: SOCIETY) - RTR4JSA6

Damascus faces continual power outages

Red Crescent members and residents remove a dead body from a damaged site after what activists said were air strikes by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Douma eastern Al-Ghouta, near Damascus January 25, 2015. Islamist fighters struck the Syrian capital with at least 38 rockets on Sunday, killing seven people, a monitoring group said, in one of heaviest attacks on Damascus in over a year. State media confirmed the attack and said at least four people were killed. It said the army was ret

Rockets fall on Damascus