NEW YORK — Sixteen journalists covering the conflict in Libya are reported missing or detained by authorities in the North African country. Three Americans are on the list of endangered journalists, compiled Tuesday by the Committee to Protect Journalists and other reports.
Two American reporters were taken into custody on April 5 by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi: James Foley, a photojournalist working for GlobalPost, a Boston-based news agency; and Clare Morgana Gillis, who was covering the fighting for The Atlantic and USA Today. The third American is freelance journalist Matthew VanDyke.
Foley and Gillis contacted relatives in the U.S. in recent days to say they were being held and were not being mistreated. VanDyke has not spoken to his family since March 12, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
There seems to be a pattern developing where foreign journalists are being targeted by forces loyal to Gadhafi for use as potential diplomatic bargaining chips, said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, program coordinator for Middle East & North Africa Committee to Protect Journalists. Often they are held near the front lines and treated roughly by soldiers for a few days until they are transferred to the political leadership in Tripoli, he said. The Associated Press
