View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
December 10, 2013

Two Spanish journalists held hostage in Syria

By Rachel Banning-Lover

A Spanish reporter and a freelance photographer are being held hostage in Syria by a group linked to Al Qaeda Spanish newspaper El Mundo said today.

El Mundo’s veteran reporter Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were seized on 16 September.

The two men were kidnapped along with four members of the Free Syrian Army rebel group at the Tal Abyad checkpoint in the northern province of Raqqa as they were trying to leave the country, after spending two weeks reporting on the aftermath of the civil war in the province of Deir Ezzor, El Mundo reported today.  The Syrians were later released.

The paper identified the kidnappers as the Islamic State of Iraq and a Syrian group known by its initials, ISIS.

El Mundo said it had refrained from publicising the news until now because their families had been trying to make contact with the captors.

Espinosa has been a Middle East correspondent for El Mundo since 2002, and is based in Beirut.

Last year, the journalist survived the same blast in Homs that killed Sunday Times Journalist Marie Colvin. He was previously kidnapped while reporting in Sierra Leone in 1999, according to the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Vilanova is a freelance photographer and videojournalist who has worked with a host of publications and broadcasters and collaborated with Human Rights Watch and the UN.  His work with CNN covering Syria has been nominated for several awards, according to his website.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network