Kidnapped foreign journalists still held in Syria

NICOSIA, Cyprus – Several foreign reporters remain captive in Syria, dubbed by a media watchdog as the most dangerous country for journalists, after 4 French colleagues were freed on April 19, Saturday, after 10 months in captivity.

13 major international news organizations, including the New York Times, BBC News, Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, said in December that more than 30 journalists were being held in the war-ravaged country.

The exact figure is unknown, however, as several families and governments have asked media not to publish news of some abductions, and because the situation is chaotic.

Among those believed to be still captive is seasoned US journalist James Foley.

Witnesses said gunmen seized him in northwestern Syria on November 22, 2012.

Austin Tice, a former US marine, arrived in Syria without a visa in May 2012, a common practice among foreign journalists seeking to cover the conflict.

After spending time with the rebels, Tice disappeared in August 2012 as he prepared to travel from Damascus province to neighboring Lebanon.

Several reporters captured by different groups have been freed in recent months.
Italian journalist Domenico Quirico and with Belgian writer Pierre Piccinin were freed last September after being held for five months. They had entered the country in April with the rebel Free Syrian Army, who they say sold them to jihadist fighters linked to Al-Qaeda.

Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, a correspondent for El Mundo, and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were released on March 29 this year after six months as hostages.

A third Spanish journalist seized separately in September, Marc Marginedas, a correspondent for the Catalan daily El Periodico, was freed earlier the same month.

Also in March, Jeppe Nybroe, a Beirut-based Danish reporter, was freed after being abducted in Lebanon and held hostage for almost a month.

Many journalists covering the Syria conflict have lost their lives. On Monday, Lebanese television channel Al-Manar announced that three of its staffers had been killed on assignment in the town of Maalula.

A Canadian photographer was also killed in March in the northern city of Aleppo.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders ranks Syria as currently the world’s most dangerous country for journalists.

The conflict in Syria has killed more than 150,000 people since March 2011, according to Britain-based monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. – Rappler.com