Libyan authorities release three journalists

[News_Editor]

Libyan authorities release three journalists

2011-03-23 19:03:42 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- Two correspondents working for the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency who were arrested by the Libyan army last week have been released, the news agency confirmed on Wednesday. A photographer working for Getty Images was also released.

AFP said in a statement on Wednesday that AFP journalists Dave Clark, 38, and Roberto Schmidt, 45, were released. Joe Raedle, a photographer working for the Getty Images agency and who was with Clark and Schmidt when they were arrested on Saturday, was also released.

"All those who at every moment of their lives think that freedom is not just a word are deeply rejoicing now that Dave Clark, Roberto Schmidt and Joe Raedle have regained their liberty to live their lives and practice their profession," said AFP Chairman and Chief Executive Emmanuel Hoog. "This liberation is the fruit of the mobilization of the entire AFP editorial staff and the agency as a whole."

Hoog, who had sent a letter to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Tuesday, thanked the French government for its help in securing the release of the journalists. Hoog met with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Culture and Communication Minister Frederic Mitterrand on Tuesday to discuss the arrests.

In a letter to Gaddafi, Hoog asked the leader to restore the journalists' liberty "in the name of the same freedom of expression and information that you refer to so often." The three journalists were arrested near the Libyan city of Ajdabiya on Saturday afternoon, according to their driver.

The three journalists had sent an email to senior editors on Friday evening in which they said they planned to travel to a region near Tobruk on Saturday in an attempt to meet opponents of Gaddafi. They also planned to speak to refugees fleeing the civil war.

Libya is currently in the midst of a civil war which has so far claimed at least 1,000 and as many as 10,000 lives. The Libyan government has previously compared Western journalists to al-Qaeda supporters and said they could not guarantee their safety.

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