Probe opens after Italian reporter goes missing in Syria

Rome, May 4 (IANS/AKI) Prosecutors in Rome have opened a kidnapping and anti-terrorism investigation after Italian journalist Domenico Quirico disappeared in war-torn Syria.

Quirico, a correspondent for Turin's la Stampa newspaper and an experienced war reporter, entered Syria April 6 to cover the civil war and the paper has not heard from him since April 9.

In a statement Friday on World Press Freedom Day, an European Union official expressed "disquiet" over the fate of the 62-year-old Quirico.

"This year, we signal our disquiet over Domenico Quirico, who vanished in Syria more than 20 days ago," said European Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly.

"We express our solidarity to him, his family and to the newsdesk of La Stampa."

La Stampa ran an eight-page special on Quirico in its Friday edition.

Quirico has reported on conflicts in Sudan, Uganda and Libya and on the Arab spring uprisings, and had been known to disappear for a few days at a time in the past, but never for this long.

Four Italian journalists were kidnapped in Syria in April, but were released after more than a week in captivity.

Syria is the most dangerous country in the world for journalists, 28 of whom were killed there in 2012 and seven so far this year, according to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists watchdog.

--IANS/AKI

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