Jihadist leader in Syria addresses militants with Hello Kitty notebook

ISTANBUL

Footage showing a jihadist rebel leader fighting in Syria giving a fiery speech to militants while holding a pink notebook has gone viral on social media.

In the video, which was posted on YouTube on July 2, Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaysh al-Islam, is seen speaking against the Islamic State (IS), formally the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Jaysh al-Islam and the IS are fighting with each other for the control of Ghouta, near Damascus.

The pink cover of the notebook featuring Hello Kitty, the fictional character who was appointed as Japan’s cultural ambassador in 2008, starkly resembles the jihadists’ khaki combat uniforms.

“You gather your men, take a notebook from your bag and everything ends at that moment,” Turkish Twitter user @muhsin_ayhan joked on July 4.