Spain is on the ground to locate the missing journalists

USPA NEWS - The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is on the ground to locate the three Spanish journalists missing in Syria, with whom contact was lost on July 11. Spanish Government sources still talking about disappearance, but increasingly force theory kidnapping charges.

The three journalists had entered Syria last July 10 from Turkey with the help of one of the militias fighting in the country and under whose protection they were. It is unknown what happened to the three reporters lost the shield of Syrian militants, whether it was as a result of fighting, by the action of another more powerful militant group or sale in exchange for arms and money. Trade with Westerners people is usual in Syria since 2012 and affects not only journalists but also employees of UN agencies and NGOs operating in the country.

Little is yet known about what happened, except that the three journalists were experienced reporter who has covered armed conflicts in the Middle East and Latin America, which have received several awards; working as freelancers for newspapers, news agencies and television stations in Spain, which allegedly were in the region of Aleppo. In this area operates the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State presence is almost nonexistent. But all militias fighting in the region, including the most interested in the Western media report on the war, have been implicated in the abduction and sale of Westerners.

An estimated twenty journalists held hostage in Syria. Another seven have been released in recent months. Among the Spanish reporters, correspondent of the newspaper 'El Mundo' Javier Espinosa and a freelance photographer were held for 194 days and were released on 30 March 2014. Two weeks earlier, another Spanish reporter, correspondent of the “˜El Periodico de Catalunya´, Marc Marginedas, who had been kidnapped by a jihadist faction close to Al Qaeda, was released. Journalists have become inconvenient witnesses of the barbarity of war and that has placed them in the sights of the contenders.

The Spanish Government offers little information on the disappearance of the three journalists, since this is a "very sensitive" and respect for the families case that the Tuesday night issued a joint statement in which demand respect and discretion not to hinder the efforts being made. The Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, said Wednesday that investigations are carried out by the intelligence services and was confident the early release of the three journalists because "all the precedents are good." The Spanish Foreign Minister said that "we have not had to mourn any personal misfortune in four years“ war in Syria.