Two Reuters Journalists Missing In Syria

March 30, 2011 9:18:16 PM

LONDON, March 30 (Reuters) - Two Reuters journalists are missing in Syria.

Diplomatic sources said on Wednesday that correspondent Suleiman al-Khalidi, a Jordanian national based in Amman, had been detained by the Syrian authorities in Damascus on Tuesday.

Photographer Khaled al-Hariri, a Syrian based in Damascus, has not been in contact with colleagues since Monday.

A Syrian official said authorities were working to establish what had happened to the two men.

"Thomson Reuters is deeply concerned about the whereabouts of our colleagues Khaled al-Hariri and Suleiman al-Khalidi," Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler said.

"We call upon the Syrian authorities to help us urgently in ensuring their safe and timely release. Reuters remains committed to reporting from the Middle East and we are working round the clock to protect our staff in these challenging times."

Khalidi, who has worked for Reuters for more than 20 years in Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Iraq, was last seen in the old city of Damascus on Tuesday. He has not answered his mobile telephone since shortly after 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) on Tuesday.

Hariri, who has also worked for Reuters for more than 20 years, was last seen arriving at the Reuters bureau in Damascus on Monday morning. He has not been in touch since then and has not answered his mobile telephone.

Their disappearance follows the detention in Syria of two Reuters television journalists, producer Ayat Basma and cameraman Ezzat Baltaji. They were held incommunicado for two days before being released by Syrian authorities on Monday.

Both Lebanese, they were expelled to Lebanon. They had been working in Syria since the previous week.

Reuters correspondent Khaled Yacoub Oweis, a Jordanian who had been based in Damascus, was expelled from Syria on Friday for what a Syrian Information Ministry official described as his "unprofessional and false" coverage of events.

Reuters said it stood by its coverage from Syria, where nearly two weeks of protests have posed the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.

Also on Wednesday, the Libyan government expelled a Reuters correspondent from Tripoli. Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia expelled the Reuters foreign correspondent from Riyadh. (Reporting by Dominic Evans, editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[Wu Bing]

05:45 AM on 05/11/2011

The combination of art and nature.http://www.coachoutlet50.com

[CubnKira]

10:22 PM on 03/31/2011

Obama went after a country that was not a threat to us or even the region, instead of going after Assad who with Iran sponsor worldwide terrorism. Assad and Hezbollah assassinated the Lebanese PM and have turned Lebanon from the 'Paris of the Mideast' to a hotbed of Islamic Fundamentalism and terror. Assad has already shot and killed over 60 protestors. Obama's geography was off, Syria should have been in the sights.

[Terri Lorz]

03:35 PM on 03/31/2011

I want to commend our brave journalists - who take risks for truth. Terri Jo Lorz

[CubnKira]

11:53 AM on 03/31/2011

Obama was a little off on his geography. Syria and its big brother Iran do support worldwide terrorism and in fact have armed the insurgents who have killed our troops with their weapons. Libya posed no danger to the World and it is a Civil War that at best the Arab League should have handled without us. Saudi has advanced fighter jets--yet not one has flown a mission.

Back to Syria, Assad's father wiped out an entire city and killed 22,000 in the 80's. Jr. Assad was complicit with Hezbollah in the assassination of PM Hariri in Lebanon. He has almost single handedly ruined the former 'Paris of the Mideast' , Lebanon, with his support of Hezbollah who now controls who governs Syria.

I could see action against Syria. Assad has shot over 60 protestors dead. This was where we needed to be, not Libya where the rebels with their al Qaeda ties are worse than Qadhafi.

[pomegrante]

09:58 AM on 03/31/2011

In an interview with Amy Goodman on March 2, 2007 -
4-Star General Wesley Clark EXPOSED the PLAN TO TAKE DOWN 7 COUNTRIES:
Iraq
Syria
Lebanon
Libya
Somalia
Sudan
Iran
Watch short video clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7hMj2NKTc

[Mr MOTO]

09:36 AM on 03/31/2011

Oddly, protesters in Syria do not what Assad to leave, they just want reforms.

[lqw]

08:54 AM on 03/31/2011

Is Obama going to start a kinetic military action there too?
CIA is probably already in the ground there too.

[gakabani]

08:12 AM on 03/31/2011

They all have price, today they cheer, tomorrow no one knows.

[Marvelousdreams]

07:14 AM on 03/31/2011

The difference is clear. Syrian population are totally behind their president and their nation. Like Iran, the popular uprising is either non visible or very, very small. Like an interest group protesting government policy. The US or Israel has had its eye on destroying Syria since before the assassination of the Jordanian(?) leader whom the western governments blamed on Syria but never presented any proof. Also during the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the US contiually tried to expand its bombings into Syria saying the resistence was entering via Syria.

It is difficult to see what our greedy corporations want in Syria. It is easier to see our government working on behalf of Israel paranoid defense strategy to rule the entire middle east.

[anandblr]

10:57 AM on 03/31/2011

I'm no fan of Israeli foreign policy, but what you wrote is rank speculation. People wont take any of us seriously if some of us say crazy things.

[Marvelousdreams]

02:03 PM on 03/31/2011

You are so right. I felt the same when it posted. I was depending on the moderators not to let it through. Rats. Egg on me; I apologize.

[European1919]

05:36 AM on 03/31/2011

Not shot "by accident" by US troops/CIA, were they?

[cliffhammond]

11:18 PM on 03/30/2011

This doesn't surprise me; Reuters is contaminated with journalists working for CIA. I'm sure the Syrian government knows this. Guess the journalists will have to sit tight while the Syrians check our their story.

[SaneUSA]

11:54 PM on 03/30/2011

You better call Scully, sounds like you have a case to solve.

[Hirnlego]

09:00 AM on 03/31/2011

See Operation MOCKINGBIR­D.

"You could get a journalist cheaper than a good call girl, for a couple hundred dollars a month." - CIA operative discussing with Philip Graham, editor Washington Post, on the availabili­ty and prices of journalist­s willing to peddle CIA propaganda and cover stories. "Katherine The Great," by Deborah Davis (New York: Sheridan Square Press, 1991)

That's why we call 'em "presstitu­tes."

[Never Again]

11:07 PM on 03/30/2011

Just saw disturbing video on Anderson Cooper that is believed to have come soon after the speech. Authorities opened fire on peaceful protesters killing about 2 dozen. It was chaos.

[Pod-gers]

11:01 PM on 03/30/2011

Here is a good read about what is going down in Syria.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-president-accepts-cabinets-resignations/2011/03/29/AFVTAjuB_story.html

I vote for Assad!

[Anne Mccormick]

10:52 PM on 03/30/2011

i hope i'm wrong in this, i pray i'm wrong, but is it possible that who has these journalists believes them to be spies.

[xlntcat]

01:44 AM on 03/31/2011

It was my understanding that Syria wasn't issuing VISA's to foreign journalist so if you cross the border illegally then you have to know that it is likely that you will pay consequences.

[matt t]

02:38 AM on 03/31/2011

huh??? way too improbable for any gov to do, however incompetent. how reliable is your source??

[Eric Sarnoski]

03:12 AM on 03/31/2011

Yup probably some truth in that. Turned out that some of the Times reporter that were initially reported missing in Egypt were being held by the authorities and the reporters themselves admitted that didn't have visa's and had snuck across the border. Its time to hold their bosses and editors accountable for their safety.

[reviewingthesituation]

10:05 PM on 03/30/2011

Something is peculiar about our relationship with Syria. Refugees from Iraq are processed in Syria and stay there, in refugee camps, until they come to the U.S. Why would we use Syria in this role if they are not an ally? (It is often unsafe for Iraqis to wait in Iraq itself because they may be targeted for having worked for Americans.)

I've had several Iraqi students who lived in Syria as refugees.

[Pod-gers]

10:52 PM on 03/30/2011

After learning that Obama had been helping the rebels in Libya all along, I must agree with Assad that he is probabally right that the "protests" in Syria have been incited by outsiders.

[xlntcat]

01:46 AM on 03/31/2011

And just how did you come by the knowledge that President Obama had been helping the rebels in Libya all along in any manner other than that which has been announced publicly?

[cinesimonj]

10:29 AM on 03/31/2011

I guess if one haven't actually been paying attention, a conspiracy theorist might believe such nonsense...

[reviewingthesituation]

04:45 PM on 03/31/2011

One of my Syrian students, an engineer working for a major U.S. R&D company, flew back to Syria to have some wisdom teeth removed because, even with the cost of airfare, it was cheaper to have the work done in Syria than here, where he had no dental insurance. He said that Syria provides full medical/dental care for its citizens.