New Plea for French Journalists Held in Syria to Be Freed

Supporters of two French journalists kidnapped in Syria launched an impassioned call for their release Monday to mark the two-month anniversary of their disappearance.

Didier Francois, a seasoned war reporter for Europe 1 radio, and Edouard Elias, a photo-journalist, were detained on June 6 by unknown men at a checkpoint while travelling to Syria's second city of Aleppo.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said last month that the pair are believed to be alive, but provided no further details.

"Already two months!... Didier and Edouard are being held because they were doing their job: informing us about the conflict," said a support committee for the pair headed by Le Monde journalist Florence Aubenas, who was held hostage in Iraq in 2005.

"In Syria, a hunt for journalists is under way: 25 foreign reporters have been kidnapped, and seven killed since the start of events in March 2011", it added in a statement released by watchdog Reporters Without Borders, to be published in French newspapers.

Late last month, Franco-U.S. photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie, who worked for the New York-based Polaris Images agency, flew to Paris after being released from an 81-day kidnap ordeal in Syria at the hands of Islamists.

Reporters Without Borders describes the war-torn country, where more than 100,000 people have died since the start of hostilities in 2011, as "one of the world's most dangerous countries for media personnel."

"It is upon us to fight for them: freedom of information is everyone's freedom," the committee said.