Western journalists killed in Syria named
Two Western journalists killed in Syria were today identified as French photojournalist Remi Ochlik and American reporter Marie Colvin.
It comes as the International Red Cross is holding a meeting in Geneva today with Syrian opposition figures.
French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse confirmed the deaths after Syrian government forces shelled the city of Homs.
The website of photo agency IP3 Press – which was founded by 28-year-old Mr Ochlik – said he was an award-winning photojournalist who had covered events including the 2004 rioting in Haiti and the Arab world upheaval last year.
Marie Colvin, from Oyster Bay, New York, was a war reporter who had covered conflicts from Sri Lanka to Syria. She had been a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times for the past two decades.
Elsewhere, Red Cross spokesman Hisham Hassan said the meeting with members of the Syrian National Council is part of the aid group’s efforts to “be in touch with all those who might have an impact in Syria”.
The Geneva-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) yesterday called for a daily two-hour halt to fighting in Syria so it can bring emergency aid to affected areas and evacuate the wounded and sick.
The group said negotiations with Syrian authorities and opposition groups are at a very early stage.
Russia’s foreign ministry today voiced support for the humanitarian ceasefire in Syria.
The ministry’s spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said that Russia is supporting the ICRC call for a daily two-hour ceasefire to provide aid to the population of Syria.
Mr Lukashevich said Russia is using its contacts with both the Syrian government and the opposition to help settle humanitarian issues.
He also reaffirmed Moscow’s proposal to send a special United Nations envoy to Syria to help co-ordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Russia and China have vetoed two Security Council resolutions backing Arab League plans aimed at ending the conflict and condemning President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests.
Sunday Times Editor John Witherow paid tribute to Ms Colvin in a statement released to the press.
"I want to report with great shock the sad news of the death of Marie Colvin in Syria today. We have reliable reports that Marie was killed in Homs while covering the devastating bombardment by the Syrian army. She was with Paul Conroy, the freelance photographer, who was injured in the attack. We do not know the extent of his wounds but the early reports suggest he is not too seriously hurt. We are doing what we can to get him to safety and to recover Marie's body.
Marie was an extraordinary figure in the life of The Sunday Times, driven by a passion to cover wars in the belief that what she did mattered. She believed profoundly that reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make the international community take notice. Above all, as we saw in her powerful report last weekend, her thoughts were with the victims of violence.
Throughout her long career she took risks to fulfil this goal, including being badly injured in Sri Lanka. Nothing seemed to deter her. But she was much more than a war reporter. She was a woman with a tremendous joie de vivre, full of humour and mischief and surrounded by a large circle of friends, all of whom feared the consequences of her bravery.
Marie was recruited to The Sunday Times more than a quarter of a century ago by David Blundy, her predecessor as Middle East correspondent, who was himself killed in El Salvador in 1989. It shows the risks that foreign correspondents are prepared to take in the pursuit of the truth.
Marie will be missed sorely by all of us and her many friends."
