Family of Lebanese Cameraman Missing in Syria Urges Officials to Act

The family of Sky News Arabia cameraman Samir Kassab who has gone missing in Syria urged Lebanese officials on Tuesday to address the case, stressing that “he was performing his job professionally and impartially and he is not involved in the conflict.”

“Eight days have passed since the disappearance of our son …, his Mauritanian colleague Ishak Moctar and their Syrian driver, after contact with them was lost as they arrived in the Syrian region of Aleppo last Tuesday to conduct a field report on the humanitarian aspect of the Syrians' plight during Eid al-Adha,” the family said in a statement.

“After we preferred during this period to resort to prayer and silence and to let things take their natural course, and after we followed up on Sky News Arabia's strenuous efforts to find its crew, and as Samir's cause remains absent from the interests of all political officials in Lebanon, we remind that our son was performing his job professionally and impartially and he is not involved in the conflict,” the family added, stressing that Kassab “is not a member of any political party or group in his country.”

The family also urged journalists, civil society groups, international organizations and all parties who have influence on the events in Syria to help secure the safe return of Kassab and his colleagues.

The Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia said Thursday it had lost contact with its crew on assignment in the north Syria province of Aleppo, where abductions have been on the rise.

The channel said in a statement that Kassab, Moctar and a Syrian driver it did not name at his family's request have been missing since Tuesday.

It appealed to "all concerned parties" to help it locate its team and support "any effort ensuring their safe return."

The journalists are "dedicated to covering the news objectively, professionally and without bias," said Nart Bouran, head of Sky News Arabia.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says at least 16 foreign journalists are missing in Syria, although many cases have not been made public at the request of their families.

RSF says that since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, at least 25 professional journalists and 70 citizen journalists have been killed.

Though journalists have been killed while reporting from the regime side, most deaths and kidnappings have been among those behind rebel lines.

Sherif Mansour of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the threat has evolved.

"In the beginning we only saw journalists being kidnapped by the government but later we began to see the opposition becoming increasingly involved," he told Agence France Presse.

"The kidnappings now are not just for political reasons, but also for financial reasons. We have also seen groups that are specifically targeting journalists, accusing them of being spies."