【英语国际】两名西方记者在叙利亚遇难

A French photojournalist and one of the U.K.'s best-known war correspondents were killed Wednesday in Homs, in Syria, amid an intense bombardment of the city, a flash-point in the country's nearly yearlong uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse said Marie Colvin, an American-born correspondent with The Sunday Times of London, and French war photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in the bombardment of Homs.

Ochlik had initially been in Syria for French weekly magazine Paris Match, but wasn't working for them at the time of the attack. The photographer chose to stay in the country when the publication decided to pull one of its staff reporters that worked with Ochlik out of the country for security reasons, said Phillipe Legrand, marketing director for the magazine.

'I want to report with great shock the sad news of the death of Marie Colvin in Syria today,' said John Witherow, Editor of The Sunday Times, in a statement. 'Marie was an extraordinary figure in the life of The Sunday Times, driven by a passion to cover wars in the belief that what she did mattered. She believed profoundly that reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make the international community take notice.'

News Corp. (NWS) Chairman Rupert Murdoch expressed his 'great sadness' at the death of Colvin. News Corp. owns the Sunday Times as well as the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.

'Marie had fearlessly covered wars across the Middle East and south Asia for 25 years for The Sunday Times,' said Murdoch. 'She put her life in danger on many occasions because she was driven by a determination that the misdeeds of tyrants and the suffering of the victims did not go unreported.'

Syrian activists in Homs said the two journalists were in a safe-house that had been set up as a media center with satellite uplinks that came under artillery fire on Wednesday morning.

Avaaz, a campaigning group helping to smuggle medical aid and international journalists into Syria, said the house was 'a well-known temporary press center in Homs which sat next door to a hospital.' The group, which said it worked with Colvin and helped Ochlik get into Homs, said that seven activists were also killed and two other journalists were seriously injured in shelling on Wednesday morning.

Colvin, who was in her 50s, was legendary among war correspondents, especially her female colleagues, for parachuting into the most inhospitable places and dangerous conflicts. A veteran of Middle East hot spots since the 1980s, she was on the front lines of the revolutions last year in Libya and Egypt.

This year, she had been determined to get inside Syria, where civilians have been under siege in more brutal and terrifying ways.

Colvin communicated with friends and colleagues on Tuesday afternoon. She said she was horrified by the situation in Homs, especially for civilians trapped by the shelling and compared conditions to the siege of Sarajevo.

One of her last communications on Tuesday to a group of colleagues on Facebook revealed that she was shaken by the scenes in Homs, despite her years of experience. The death of an infant was overwhelming, she wrote.

'In Baba Amr. Sickening, cannot understand how the world can stand by and I should be hardened by now. Watched a baby die today,' Colvin wrote.

Activists and residents said Tuesday was one of the bloodiest days in Syria in recent weeks. At least 35 people were killed in Homs, with several activist groups putting the day's total death toll across the country at more than 100. Shelling resumed early on Wednesday morning, residents of the city said.

A well-known Syrian activist, who had set up an online live-stream video feed of attacks on Homs, was killed in a rocket attack on Tuesday, according to his friends. Ramy al-Sayed bled to death in a make-shift hospital, where activists filmed his body as they paid tribute to 'the most important activist in Bab Amr.'

At least four journalists have been killed in and around Homs since November last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. France 2 journalist Gilles Jacquier became the first foreign journalist to be killed in Syria's uprising in January, while he covered a pro-regime rally in Homs.

Syria's government has largely barred foreign journalists from entering Syria or covering areas of unrest. Video footage and eyewitnesses have provided the bulk of accounts of events, with journalists sneaking into the country illegally over the past month--mostly into Homs--to document the crackdown.

Nour Malas / William Horobin

周三，一位法国摄影记者和英国最知名的一位战地记者在叙利亚霍姆斯所遭受的狂轰滥炸中丧生。在该国持续近一年的反对总统阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)的抗议活动中，这一事件令形势一触即发。

Ivor Prickett/SundayTimes/Associated Press《星期日泰晤士报》提供的一张资料图片，战地记者科尔文在埃及开罗。法国政府发言人佩克雷斯(Valerie Pecresse)说，供职于伦敦《星期日泰晤士报》(The Sunday Times)、美国出生的战地记者科尔文(Marie Colvin)以及法国战地摄影记者奥克里克(Remi Ochlik)在霍姆斯城的轰炸中丧生。

奥克里克最初到叙利亚是为法国周刊杂志《巴黎竞赛》(Paris Match)工作，但遭袭时他并没有在为该周刊工作。《巴黎竞赛》的市场总监罗格朗(Phillipe Legrand)说，当该杂志社出于安全原因决定撤离与奥克里克一同工作的一位记者时，奥克里克决定留在叙利亚。

《星期日泰晤士报》总编威瑟罗(John Witherow)在一份声明中说，本人极度震惊地向大家通告科尔文22日在叙利亚不幸身亡的噩耗。威瑟罗说，科尔文是本报历史上一位杰出的记者，报道战事的热情推动着她，因为她相信自己所做的一切非常重要。她坚信报道可以减少残暴政权的种种暴行，同时还能引发国际社会的关注。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images法国战地摄影记者奥克里克于2005年2月2日在巴黎拍摄的一张档案照片。新闻集团(News Corp.)董事长默多克(Rupert Murdoch)表示对科尔文的死极度难过。新闻集团拥有《星期日泰晤士报》、《华尔街日报》和道琼斯通讯社。

默多克说，科尔文在中东和南亚地区为《星期日泰晤士报》无畏地报道战事长达25年。她曾不顾自身安危，因为她受一股决心的推动，那就是专制政权的暴行和受害者的苦难必须得以报道。

霍姆斯的叙利亚活动人士说，周三上午，两名记者所在的被当做媒体中心的安全屋遭到炮击。这个媒体中心还配有卫星上行线路。

专门帮助医疗救护人员和国际记者进入叙利亚的活动组织Avaaz说，在霍姆斯，这座安全屋是有名的临时新闻中心，它旁边还有一座医院。该组织说，周三上午的炮击还造成七名活动人士身亡，另有两名记者受重伤。Avaaz还说该组织曾同科尔文合作，并帮助奥克里克进入霍姆斯。

今年50多岁的科尔文曾因跳伞进入最荒凉的地带和最危险的战区成为战地记者中的传奇人物，在女性记者中就更是如此。自上世纪80年代以来，她已经成为报道中东热点的资深记者，去年利比亚和埃及爆发内乱时，她也曾身处前线。

今年，她下决心深入叙利亚。在那里，平民受到了更为残酷和恐怖的对待。

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images一名叙利亚男子在临时搭建的媒体中心外面说话。科尔文周二下午曾与朋友和同事交流。她说，霍姆斯的局势让她感到恐怖，特别是平民被炮击围困的情形。她把霍姆斯的情景比作波黑战争期间塞族人对萨拉热窝的包围。

周二她通过Facebook与一群同事交流，一段最后的交流显示，尽管有着多年的经验，她还是为霍姆斯城内的景象而受到震撼。她写道，一名婴儿的死亡实在让人无法承受。

科尔文写道：在巴卜阿姆鲁(Baba Amr)社区。想吐，不能理解这个世界怎能袖手旁观，如今我应该变得更冷酷。今天看到一个婴儿死了。

活动人士和居民说，周二是叙利亚近几个星期最血腥的日子之一。霍姆斯至少有35人身亡，而据多个活动人士团体估计，当天全国死亡人数总计在100人以上。霍姆斯居民说，周三上午恢复了炮击。

叙利亚知名活动人士赛义德(Ramy al-Sayed)的朋友说，赛义德周二在火箭弹袭击中身亡。他曾在网上建了一个反映霍姆斯所遭袭击的实时视频频道。赛义德在一家临时医院因流血过多死亡，活动人士为他的遗体摄像，向“巴卜阿姆鲁最重要的活动人士”致敬。

据保护新闻工作者协会(Committee to Protect Journalists)，从去年11月以来，至少有四名记者在霍姆斯城内及周边死亡。法国电视二台(France 2)记者雅基埃(Gilles Jacquier)今年1月成为叙利亚暴动期间第一位遇害的外籍记者，当时他是在报道霍姆斯一场支持当局的集会。

叙利亚政府基本上已经完全禁止外国记者进入叙利亚或在暴动地区从事报道活动。视频画面和目击者证明成为主要的信息来源，记者们过去一个月非法潜入叙利亚记录当局的镇压活动，其中大多数都是前往霍姆斯。

Nour Malas / William Horobin发自巴黎

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