Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani dressed as a woman. Photo: Screenshot.

Earlier this week, many Arabic-language Internet news websites posted a series of pictures, purporting to be of the leader (or “emir”) of the al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra [“Victory”] Front, which is in Syria waging jihad.

According to these reports, Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani had managed to pass several military checkpoints dressed as a woman, until he was arrested by the Syrian army in al-Jaswiya, al-Qusayr, in his attempt to flee to neighboring Lebanon: “He shaved his beard, worked his eyebrows, and put on mascara and lipstick till he looked exactly like a woman.”