Missing Syrian journalist believed dead

[August 13, 2012]  BEIRUT (AP) -- A pro-government Syrian TV station said Monday one of its cameramen who was kidnapped three days ago is believed to be dead while the others are being held by rebels near the capital Damascus.

The station said gunmen kidnapped the cameraman Friday along with three other employees of the pro-regime Al-Ikhbariya TV while covering the violence in the Damascus suburb of al-Tal. The three surviving members of the team appeared in an online video, saying they were being held by rebel forces who were treating them well.

A man who identified himself as a rebel spokesman also appeared in the video, saying the cameraman and two members of the Free Syrian Army rebel group were killed in government shelling while on a tour in al-Tal to shoot destruction in the area.

It was impossible to independently verify the events shown in the video. But the general manager of Al-Ikhbariya TV said they believe the cameraman is dead. In June, gunmen raided Al-Ikhbariya's headquarters, killing seven employees.

The death came as activists reported clashes and shelling between government troops and rebels in areas including Damascus and its suburbs, the central province of Homs, and the southern region of Daraa. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 people were killed so far Monday, 24 of them civilians while the others were soldiers or rebels.

Activists also released a video which they said showed a government Soviet-made Mig warplane catching fire apparently after it was hit by ground fire over the eastern province of Deir el-Zour. The warplane appears to be turning into a ball of flame, although it was impossible to independently verify the video.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, could not confirm the video, saying he was told by locals that the rebels captured the pilot, a colonel, alive. Abdul-Rahman said he is waiting for another video that either shows the body of the plane or the pilot.

Activists say more than 20,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in March 2011.

Journalists have suffered a number of casualties in the 17-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad, and in recent months there have been several attacks on pro-regime media. On Saturday, a reporter for state-run news agency SANA was killed in his Damascus home, while another working for the pan-Arab Al-Arabiya TV was killed in a blast in Tal.

[Associated Press; By BASSEM MROUE]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.