Syrian activists in Homs bury bodies of journalists
- 12 years ago
REUTERS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
STORY: Anti-government Syrian activists have buried two journalists this week who were killed on February 22, during the siege of the city of Homs.
Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the Baba Amro district, which suffered some of the heaviest fighting and bombardment during the year-long uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
The bodies of Colvin and Ochlik were wrapped in white shrouds and given a traditional local Muslim burial in one of the public parks of the embattled Baba Amro district of Homs.
"The date is the 27th of February 2012 and we are in one of the parks in Baba Amro, we haven't been able to put her in a fridge for a longer period because the Syrian army has prevented the Red Cross from coming in and we have no electricity for a fridge. Marie Colvin was martyred because she was conveying a peaceful, humanitarian message and the truth of what was happening in Baba Amro. May God have mercy on you Marie and may he allow you into paradise," said local doctor Mohammed Ahmed, shortly before activists began to bury Colvin.
Ahmed read a similar statement before activists began burying Ochlik. The videos stated the date as February 27 but were uploaded on Thursday (March 1).
The faces of both bodies were shown on the social media footage.
Reuters cannot independently verify the content of videos posted on social media websites.
On Thursday, two French journalists who were trapped in Homs were evacuated and arrived in Lebanon, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Freelance reporter Edith Bouvier, whose femur was shattered during heavy shelling of rebel-held Baba Amro, arrived with photographer William Daniels, witnesses in Lebanon told Reuters.
They were the last foreign journalists who were reportedly stranded in Homs during the Syrian government assault, which pushed rebels out of their positions in the city.
STORY: Anti-government Syrian activists have buried two journalists this week who were killed on February 22, during the siege of the city of Homs.
Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the Baba Amro district, which suffered some of the heaviest fighting and bombardment during the year-long uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
The bodies of Colvin and Ochlik were wrapped in white shrouds and given a traditional local Muslim burial in one of the public parks of the embattled Baba Amro district of Homs.
"The date is the 27th of February 2012 and we are in one of the parks in Baba Amro, we haven't been able to put her in a fridge for a longer period because the Syrian army has prevented the Red Cross from coming in and we have no electricity for a fridge. Marie Colvin was martyred because she was conveying a peaceful, humanitarian message and the truth of what was happening in Baba Amro. May God have mercy on you Marie and may he allow you into paradise," said local doctor Mohammed Ahmed, shortly before activists began to bury Colvin.
Ahmed read a similar statement before activists began burying Ochlik. The videos stated the date as February 27 but were uploaded on Thursday (March 1).
The faces of both bodies were shown on the social media footage.
Reuters cannot independently verify the content of videos posted on social media websites.
On Thursday, two French journalists who were trapped in Homs were evacuated and arrived in Lebanon, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
Freelance reporter Edith Bouvier, whose femur was shattered during heavy shelling of rebel-held Baba Amro, arrived with photographer William Daniels, witnesses in Lebanon told Reuters.
They were the last foreign journalists who were reportedly stranded in Homs during the Syrian government assault, which pushed rebels out of their positions in the city.