Iran’s English-language Press TV said today that two of its journalists have been detained in the Libyan city of Misrata, but did not say why. It said reporter Nicholas Davies and cameraman Gareth Mongomery-Johnson were seized on Tuesday by members of the Misrata Brigade, one of the militias that fought to overthrow former leader Moamer Kadhafi, and taken to jail in Tripoli.
Press TV gave no details on the nationality of the two men, nor their condition, and said there had been no contact with them since Tuesday. Asked about the report, the Foreign Office in London issued a statement that only said two Britons were being held in Libya.
“We can confirm that two British nationals have been detained in Libya. Our embassy in Tripoli is providing consular assistance,” the statement said, without elaborating.
(Source: AFP)
on Feb 25th, 2012 at 17:08
A rather strange development, as Press TV was very supportive of the Libyan ‘revolutionaries’ during the war.
on Mar 13th, 2012 at 09:47
In case you missed it, here’s an update on the story:
Two British journalists detained in Libya and accused of being spies were reporting on atrocities meted out against black people by the same forces that arrested them:
http://www.channel4.com/news/spying-journalists-were-reporting-killing-of-black-libyans
Not surprisingly this story was mostly ignored by mainstream Western media that are busy drumming up popular support for a war on Syria.
on Mar 14th, 2012 at 13:59
The militia finally transfered two British journalists to the Libyan authorities http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-libya-britain-journalists-idUSBRE82D0QQ20120314
‘International rights campaigners including Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders have said the two Britons have been detained illegally, and have called on the militia to either release them immediately or transfer them to the custody of the official Libyan authorities.’
I bet those two guys would get much more help if they were arrested in Syria.