Paul Conroy Smuggled Out Of Syria; Edith Bouvier's Status Still Unknown

(Adds Sarkozy comments, Syrian rescuer death toll)

By Erika Solomon

BEIRUT, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A British photographer wounded in a Syrian army bombardment of Homs was smuggled safely into neighbouring Lebanon on Tuesday, but several Syrians were killed in the rescue and the fate of other journalists trapped with him was unclear.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had been informed that French journalist Edith Bouvier, whose femur was shattered during heavy shelling of Homs's rebel-held Baba Amro district, had been evacuated, but he later dampened expectations.

"It has not been confirmed that today she is safe in Lebanon," Sarkozy said.

Campaign group Avaaz said they had planned photographer Paul Conroy's rescue but believed Bouvier was still in Homs, where the veteran Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed on Feb. 22.

Avaaz said it had worked with Syrian activists, of whom 13 had been killed in the last few days during attempts to evacuate foreign journalists and wounded Syrians from Homs.

"Paul Conroy's rescue today is a huge relief but this must be tempered with the news that three remain unaccounted for and with our respects for the incredibly courageous activists who died during the evacuation attempts," said Avaaz Executive Director Ricken Patel in a statement.

Britain's Sunday Times said Conroy, who was wounded in the leg in last week's attacks, was in good health.

"He is in good shape and in good spirits," it said.

One Avaaz campaigner said journalists Javier Espinosa and William Daniels were believed to be still in Homs.

British media quoted Conroy's family expressing relief over his escape to Lebanon.

"I have heard that he is out. All I can say is that we are delighted and overjoyed at the news," Conroy's wife Kate said.

Conroy had worked previously with Colvin, an American, including in Libya, where they were among the few journalists reporting from inside the port city of Misrata during a prolonged siege last year by troops loyal to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. (Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Peter Griffiths in London, writing by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Comments

[saultxy]

05:52 PM on 02/28/2012

The French and their friends need to pull a "Seal Six" and get Edith Bouvier and her colleague out of that Homs hellhole ASAP — people the world over are willing to contribute $$$. Let's roll and get them out — and if we drop a few incendiaries in the vector of Assad & Co., so be it. All is fair in war, nest-ce pas? I stand firm with Senator McCain — who knows precisely what it's like. Thank-you/Merci!!

[banderson2]

05:48 PM on 02/28/2012

If they werent' there illegally then they wouldn't have to escape and if they were injured why wouldn't they go to the Internation Red Cross or the Syrian Red Cross Crescent for medical attention unless something is not right about the story of wounded journalists.

[Tiiyee]

01:14 AM on 02/29/2012

I have been thinking about this, too. ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent have managed to negotiate with both sides to be given a possibility to evacuate wounded and those who need help, and I think they were specifically even looking for those journalists. Why not go to them...

[Sh00Fly]

01:37 PM on 02/28/2012

Why do you have two different threads for the same story?
I'm happy with the fact that you added information about some of the other journalists but why don't you just link all of the information together?

[Rangergirl]

09:41 AM on 02/28/2012

Glad they got him out... This is a really bad situation all around. I feel very very sorry for the People of Syria.. Assad needs to go