Two French journalists missing in Syria
updated 10:15 AM EDT, Fri June 7, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Reporter Didier Francois and photographer Edouard Elias are missing
- Europe 1 radio station says it is in constant contact with authorities
- French President Francois Hollande calls for their immediate release
Reporter Didier Francois
and photographer Edouard Elias were on their way to the northwestern
city of Aleppo when they went missing, the radio station said.
Europe1 is in constant contact with the authorities to make every effort to get more information, it said.
French President Francois
Hollande told reporters at a news conference in Tokyo that contact had
been lost with the two journalists, although it was not yet clear in
what circumstances.
He called for them to be
"released immediately" because they are not representatives of any
state, according to video broadcast by CNN affiliate BFMTV.
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"They are men who work so that the world can receive information," he said.
Didier Francois is an experienced war reporter while Elias has previously worked in Syria, the broadcaster said.
The two were making their way to Aleppo from Turkey, it said.
An Amnesty International report published last month named Syria as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists.
The report highlighted
serious abuses committed by both government and opposition forces
against professional and citizen journalists, both Syrian and
international.
A number of foreign journalists have disappeared in Syria.
The Italian daily
newspaper La Stampa said Thursday that it had confirmation that its
reporter Domenico Quirico, who disappeared there on April 9 while on
assignment, is alive.
Quirico, made a short
phone call to his wife, La Stampa said. The Italian foreign ministry
confirmed in a statement that contact was made between Domenico Quirico
and his family.
The Brussels evening
newspaper Le Soir said that Pierre Piccinin de Prata, a Belgian academic
and political scientist who was reporting for the paper, disappeared in
Syria in May, Reporters Without Borders said.
An American freelance
reporter, James Foley, has been missing in Syria since November 22,
2012. His brother and the GlobalPost, an online international news
outlet to which Foley contributed, said last month that they believe he
is most likely in Syrian government custody.
U.S. freelance
journalist Austin Tice disappeared in mid-August 2012. Bashar Fahmi, a
Jordanian correspondent with al-Hurra television channel, went missing
the same month.
According to the
Committee to Protect Journalists, 45 journalists have been killed in
Syria since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011.
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