Four New York Times Journalists Missing in Libya

Four NY Times Journalists are missing in Libya.  Among the missing are the missing Anthony Shadid, the Beirut bureau chief, Stephen Farrell,  and two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario. Were they detained at a government check point, abducted, being held hostage or worse? They still have yet to be heard from since their disappearance.  As seen by the recent revolution in Egypt, there has been a sudden rash of violence against journalists covering news stories in the volatile Middle East and Africa.

Editors said they were last in contact with the journalists, who were reporting from the northern port city of Ajdabiya, on Tuesday morning New York time. And despite second-hand reports that they had been swept up by Libyan government forces, the paper said it could not confirm that information.

“We have talked with officials of the Libyan government in Tripoli, and they tell us they are attempting to ascertain the whereabouts of our journalists,” said Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times. “We are grateful to the Libyan government for their assurance that if our journalists were captured they would be released promptly and unharmed.”

We wish them a safe return. It does not matter whether a journalist is Left, Right or Center, these folks put themself in harms way to report stories and this incident further shows just ow dangerous their profession can be. May they return safe.

UPDATE I: Libya Says they will Release the 4 Journalists. The NY Times journalist had had been captured by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. According to Seif Islam Gadhafi,  Gadhafi’s son, the journalists had entered Libya illegally.

Four New York Times journalists missing in Libya since Tuesday were captured by forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and will be released, the Libyan leader’s son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi told Christiane Amanpour in an ABC News interview early Friday.