No word on US journalist missing in Syria
2013-01-04 10:03
Rochester - The parents of a foreign journalist who has been missing in
Syria since he was kidnapped more than a month ago have appealed to his captors
for compassion and any information about their son's health and welfare.
James Foley, 39, was kidnapped in northwest
Syria by unknown gunmen on 22 November, his parents said on Thursday. He was in the country contributing
videos to Agence France-Press (AFP), which has vowed to help secure his
release.
Foley's parents, John and Diane Foley,
decided to hold a news conference at their home in the US state of New
Hampshire to make a public plea to his captors because the Foleys haven't
received any information about their son in six weeks.
"We just don't know anything,"
Diane Foley said. "We don't know who has him."
They have kept the Christmas holiday
lights on in the windows of their Rochester home as a vigil for their son's
safe return.
"I appeal to the people who have Jim
to let us know where he is and to help us secure his release," John Foley
said. "We just pray that he's released."
Dangerous country
Twenty-eight journalists were killed in
Syria in 2012, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists to name Syria the
most dangerous country in the world to work in last year.
The Foleys would not discuss any detail
about efforts through the US government or otherwise to secure their son's
release. Not long ago, they lived through the same anguish and fear over their
son's safety.
In 2011, Foley was held by government
forces in Libya while covering that country's civil war. Another journalist - South
African photographer Anton Hammerl - was shot during their capture and left to
die in the desert. Foley and another journalist were released after six weeks.
"I'll regret that day for the rest
of my life," James Foley told The Associated Press in 2011. "I'll
regret what happened to Anton."
Passionate journalist
Foley has worked in a number of conflict
zones in the Middle East, including Syria, Libya and Iraq. He and another
journalist were working in the northern province of Idlib in Syria when they were
kidnapped in November near the village of Taftanaz. Agence France-Press Chairperson
Emmanuel Hoog has said the agency is doing all it can to secure Foley's
release.
"He's passionate about giving life
to stories of people in conflict areas," Foley's father said on Thursday.
Asked if Foley had any reservations about
going to Syria, Diane Foley replied softly: "Not enough."
- AP
