11 January 2012
French TV journalist killed in Syria
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A French journalist was among several people killed in Syria's central city of Homs on Wednesday, becoming the first Western reporter to have died in 10 months of unrest in the country.
France 2 television confirmed one of its journalists had been killed. Syria's Addounia TV, which gave a total death toll of eight, said a Dutch journalist was among 25 people wounded.
"France 2 television has just learned with a great deal of sorrow the death of reporter Gilles Jacquier in Homs," France 2 said in a statement, adding it did not have details of the circumstances of his death. Jacquier, who had previously reported from Iraq and Afghanistan, had been invited to Syria by the government, the television station said. Syria barred most foreign media from the country soon after demonstrations against President Bashar al-Assad's rule began in March, but more journalists have been admitted since the Arab League sent a monitoring mission to check if the authorities were complying with an Arab plan to halt the bloodshed.
A witness in Homs, who asked not to be named, said the casualties were caused by rocket-propelled grenades fired duringa pro-Assad rally. He said he had seen three bodies. Rami Abdulrahman, of the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, quoted activists in Homs as saying the journalists had been near the Akrama neighbourhood of Homs at the time.
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Source: Reuters Gilles Jacquier was a journalist and a cameraman for France 2 television. He covered most of the conflicts of the last ten years (Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Israel, Haiti, Zaire, Algeria). He won the Albert Londres Prize in 2003 with Bertrand Coq. VIDEO: The Grand Prix Jean-Louis Calderon, video category, was awarded to Gilles Jacquier, who filmed 'Afghanistan: Ecole, le tableau noir' [December 2009 - video in French]
