31/03/2014 09:43
2 Spanish journalists kidnapped in Syria arrive home
Two Spanish journalists held more than six months in Syria arrived home Sunday, CNN reported, citing Spain's El Mundo newspaper.
El Mundo staff correspondent Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova embraced family and friends during a joyous reunion on the tarmac of the Torrejon de Ardoz military airport in Madrid.
"We want to thank everyone who has worried about us and who has made it possible for us to return home, and as you can see, we are perfectly well," Espinosa told those gathered at the airport.
They were later met with a standing ovation and tears by colleagues in the El Mundo newsroom, according to the newspaper. "Thank you so much," Espinosa said. "I'm sorry for what we have made you go through."
El Mundo reported early Sunday that the men had been handed over to authorities in Turkey, and showed a picture of them together in apparent good health and spirits at the airport in Beirut. It did not go into detail about how they were freed.
The two journalists were kidnapped in September.
The newspaper reported in December the men were kidnapped at the Tal Abyad checkpoint in Raqqa province, close to the Turkish border, as they prepared to leave Syria after two weeks of coverage.
At the time, the paper said the journalists' captors were reported to be members of a group linked to the al Qaeda-backed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and had not revealed demands to free the two.
Initially, the captors said they wanted to ensure the two journalists were not spies, El Mundo said.
The journalists were traveling with four fighters from the Free Syrian Army, who were also kidnapped, but released 12 days later. The fighters were supposed to have provided protection to the Spaniards, the newspaper reported.