New York: Four New York Times journalists who were reported captured by pro-government forces in Libya last week have been released, the newspaper reported on Monday.
They are in the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli, Turkey's ambassador to Libya, Levent Sahin Kaya, told. The Times reported on Monday that they were released into the custody of Turkish diplomats who were accompanying them out of Libya.
The newspaper identified the journalists as Anthony Shadid, its bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon, and a two-time Pulitzer winner for foreign reporting; Stephen Farrell, a reporter and videographer who was kidnapped by the Taliban and rescued by British commandos in 2009; Tyler Hicks, a staffer who is based in Istanbul and has served as an embedded journalist in Afghanistan; and photographer Lynsey Addario, who has covered the Middle East and Africa.
In a statement on Monday, the newspaper said, "We are grateful that our journalists have been released, and we are working to reunite them with their families. We have been told they are in good health and are in the process of confirming that. We thank the Turkish, British, and U.S. governments for their assistance in the release. We also appreciate the efforts of those in the Libyan government who helped secure the release this morning."
The four journalists entered the rebel-controlled eastern region of Libya via the Egyptian border without visas to cover the civil war in the country, the Times said. They were detained sometime after Tuesday morning, the last time editors said they had been in touch with them.
The paper said that after it reported losing contact, the Gadhafi government pledged that if the four had been detained by the government's military forces, they would be located and released unharmed.
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