13 Feb 12 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Syrian journalist Mazhar Tayyara was killed by government forces’ fire in the city of Homs, a centre of the Syrian resistance against President Bashar al-Assad, on 4 February. Tayyara, a stringer for Agence France-Presse and other international news organisations, was reporting from the Homs neighbourhood of Al-Khaldiyeh when government forces shelled the area. The journalist sustained multiple severe injuries and died in hospital within hours.
21 Jun 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
On Saturday the Agence France-Presse bureau in Amman was attacked. The office was reportedly stormed by a dozen men armed with clubs who smashed furniture and telephones and threw files to the ground. Two days before the attack, editor in chief Randa Habib was threatened by an anonymous caller after the agency reported that stones and bottles had been thrown at King Abdallah’s motorcade during a visit to a settlement 200km north of the capital. Jordan’s Minister of State for Communications and Media Affairs, Taher Adwan, said that reports of violence by some media agencies were groundless.
21 Mar 11 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost
Four New York Times journalists who had gone missing in Libya will be released soon, it was reported on Friday. The journalists had entered Libya through Egypt and were reporting from the rebel held city of Ajdabiya, which was then overrun by the pro-Gadaffi army and they were arrested. Libyan officials have indicated that the journalists will be released very soon. Four Al Jazeera journalists are also said to be in custody in Tripoli, while two Agence France-Presse journalists and a Getty Images photographer have been missing in Libya since Saturday.
