Algerian journalist freed in Syria

2011-05-03 14:25

Damascus - Algerian journalist Khaled Sid Mohand, who was arrested in the Syrian capital on April 09, was released on Tuesday.

The freelancer for the public Paris-based France Culture radio station and the daily Le Monde, "was freed this morning at the Algerian embassy", a diplomat at the Algerian embassy in Syria told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"He is in good health and is now in the process of sorting out his stay in the country," the diplomat said.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said: "I have just been given the information that he has been freed," adding: "No democracy can function without freedom of the press."

The journalist's detention was first reported on April 14 by Paris-based press watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which said he was being held in a Damascus prison.

"We call on the Syrian authorities to free all journalists and netizens, whether they be foreign or Syrian, and all prisoners of conscience in Syria. The reign of terror and the injustice has gone on too long," the group said.

- AFP