ROME, April 13 (RIA Novosti) - Four Italian journalists kidnapped and held in Syria since early April were released on Saturday, Italy's interim Foreign Minister Mario Monti said.
Monti’s statement gave no details about who had been holding the journalists, nor how they were freed, but state news agency ANSA said they were now in Turkey and would return to Italy later on Saturday.
He thanked those who had secured the journalists’ release, which he said was “particularly complicated because of the dangerous context” of the civil war raging in Syria.
Monti also thanked the media for respecting a blackout asked for by the RAI state news agency, where one of the journalists works.
The journalists have not been named by the Italian Foreign Ministry, but Italian media reports reported them to be RAI journalist Amedeo Ricucci, freelancers Elio Colavolpe and Andrea Vignali, and Italian-Syrian reporter Susan Dabbous.
Ricucci told ANSA by telephone that the group of journalists were all in good health. He said they had been captured on April 5 in northern Syria and held by an armed Islamists.
