24/09/2013 19:06
Veteran Spanish war correspondent kidnapped in Syria
A veteran Spanish war correspondent has been kidnapped by insurgents in Syria, his newspaper reported Tuesday, according to CNN.
The reporter, Marc Marginedas, has been missing since Sept. 4, the last day that he contacted the newspaper, El Periodico de Catalunya, which is based in Barcelona.
The newspaper reported that it appears that Marginedas, 46, was kidnapped by jihadi combatants near the city of Hama, in western Syria.
"According to various sources, Marginedas was traveling by car with his driver when they were intercepted by jihadi combatants," the newspaper said. "Since then, it has not been possible to contact him."
No group in Syria has claimed responsibility for his kidnapping, it said.
Marginedas has reported from conflict zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, Lebanon, Darfur and Algeria. This was his third trip to Syria since the civil war began there in 2011, the newspaper said.
It is the first time in his long career as a war correspondent that he's been kidnapped, the newspaper's communications director, Montserrat Baldoma, said by phone from Barcelona.