Free Syrian Army fighters fire at enemy positions during heavy clashes with government forces in the Salaheddine district of Aleppo.(Photo: Abdullah Al-Yasin, AP)
BEIRUT -- An American journalist has been missing in Syria since
he was kidnapped more than one month ago, his family said Wednesday,
less than two years after he was held by government forces in Libya
while covering that country's civil war.
The family of James Foley, of Rochester, N.H., said he was kidnapped in northwest Syria by unknown gunmen on Thanksgiving day.
MORE: Dozens killed, wounded in airstrike near Damascus
Foley,
39, has worked in a number of conflict zones around the Middle East,
including Syria, Libya and Iraq. He was contributing videos to Agence
France-Press while in Syria.
Foley's disappearance highlights the risks to reporters seeking to cover the civil war from inside Syria.
The
Syrian government rarely gives visas to journalists and often limits
the movements of those it allows in. This has prompted a number of
reporters to sneak into the country with the rebels fighting to topple
President Bashar Assad. Some have been killed or wounded while others
have disappeared.
Foley and another journalist were working in the
northern province of Idlib when they were kidnapped near the village of
Taftanaz on November 22. He had entered Syria a short time earlier.
Media
outlets refrained from reporting on Foley's kidnapping until his family
released its statement. The other reporter's family has requested that
that reporter's name not be made public.
Foley's family said they have not heard from him since.
"We
want Jim to come safely home, or at least we need to speak with him to
know he's OK," said his father, John Foley, in the online statement.
"Jim is an objective journalist and we appeal for the release of Jim
unharmed. To the people who have Jim, please contact us so we can work
together toward his release."
The Chairman of Agence France-Press,
Emmanuel Hoog, said in a statement that the news agency was doing all
it could to get Foley released.
"James is a professional
journalist who has remained totally neutral in this conflict," Hoog
said. "His captors, whoever they may be, must release him immediately."
In
April 2011, Foley and two other reporters were detained by government
forces in Libya while covering that country's civil war. They were
released six weeks later. South African photographer Anton Hammerl was
shot during their capture and left to die in the desert.
"I'll
regret that day for the rest of my life. I'll regret what happened to
Anton," Foley told The Associated Press at the time. "I will constantly
analyze that."
The U.N. said Wednesday that more than 60,000
people have been killed since the start of Syria's conflict in March
2011. This number represents a large jump from death tolls previously
given by anti-regime activists.
The Committee to Protect
Journalists said that Syria was the most dangerous country in the world
for journalists in 2012, when 28 reporters were killed.
Those who
lost their lives include award-winning French TV reporter Gilles
Jacquier, photographer Remi Ochlik and Britain's Sunday Times
correspondent Marie Colvin. Also, Anthony Shadid, a correspondent for
The New York Times, died after an apparent asthma attack while on
assignment in Syria.
Last month, NBC correspondent Richard Engel
and his crew were detained by pro-regime gunmen near where Foley was
kidnapped. After his release, Engels said they escaped unharmed during a
firefight between their captors and anti-regime rebels.
Associated Press