Violence Kills Two Journalists in Syria

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Two Western journalists died during the continued bombardment of Homs; which has been besieged by the military forces since February. American reporter, Marie Colvin who worked for Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik perished when a shell struck their makeshift media centre in the Baba Amr district. During the strike, 2 other foreign journalists were injured, British photograph Paul Conroy and French journalist, for the newspaper Le Figaro, Edith Bouvier. The strikes on Wednesday left 20 dead, while 40 inhabitants of the besieged city were killed on Tuesday, including Rami al-Sayed, an activist who broadcast video used by world media showing the bombings of Homs.

In similar news, New York Times, reporter Anthony Shadid died last week due to an asthma attack when returning from Syria to Turkey, he had said, “the Syrian authorities rarely grant visas for foreign reporters to enter the country and seek to control those who are given permission to do so. [...] Syrian revolt [is] difficult to observe firsthand and reporters who do so run great risks of being caught in fighting, often in isolated pockets of rebel resistance.” Spokeswoman for the State Department Victoria Nuland said ”this tragic incident is another example of the shameless brutality of the Assad regime.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy reacted to the journalists’ deaths and stated “that enough is enough, this regime must go.”

Meanwhile, during a press conference, a senior official of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), Basma Kodmani, said, ”we are really close to seeing this military intervention as the only solution. There are two evils, military intervention or protracted civil war.” Kodmani added thatRussia should persuadeDamascus to guarantee safe passage to humanitarian convoys ferrying aid to civilians.

On Friday, Tunisiawill host a “Friend of Syria” meeting, gathering leaders of 70 countries including foreign ministers from the U.S., France, U.K., representatives from European Union, and the Arab League. Russia and Lebanon will not be part of the meeting, while China didn’t announce its decision yet. Nuland asserted ‘Friends of Syria’ group is “part of our ongoing efforts with our friends, allies, and the Syrian opposition to crystallize next steps to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria.” The leaders meeting in Tunis are expected to focus on ways to provide emergency humanitarian aid intoSyria, starting withHoms. The inclusion of those parties could determine, to a large degree, whether the group comes down on the side of providing military aid toSyria’s rebels. The SNC claimed that they will urgeEgypt, on Friday, to restrict access to theSuez Canal to any ships carrying weapons to the Syrian regime.

The conflict in Syria began mid-March 2011, with the wave of the uprisings in the Arab Spring. The conflict is complicated because of the country’s multiple ethnic divisions. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has constantly condemned the international community for being enrolled in a conspiracy against Syria. Earlier this month, Russia and China vetoed U.N. Security Council resolution suggesting actions against Syrian regime.

Update: the two journalists who were injured in the attacks, Conroy and Bouvier, posted videos pleading to be evacuated. Bouvier is in need of immediate medical attention.

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