Missing Al Jazeera journalist
|10:12 UK time, Monday, 9 May 2011
Dorothy Parvaz arrived in Syria just over a week ago to cover the protests against the President Assad regime. In recent weeks reports have been emerging from the country of government troops opening fire on unarmed protestors.
The Al Jazeera journalist was detained as she got off the plane in Damascus on Friday the 29th of April. She has had no contact with the outside world since.
The Syrian government has confirmed that they are holding her.
She is one of the few foreign journalists who have attempted to enter Syria to cover what's happening there. A huge facebook and twitter campaign is underway demanding her release. After the power of social media during the Egyptian uprising, many feel this will exert the necessary pressure on the Syrian authorities
But will it?
CoreyHunt's tweet sums up many
I pray that the bloody #Assad regime releases Al-Jazeera's Dorothy #Parvaz, but let's not forget the THOUSANDS of others #freedorothy
Aside from the personal danger journalists put themselves in to cover this kind of story, it highlights the difficulties news organisations face in covering stories like the violence in Syria.
Here at the BBC it is very hard to verify reports coming out of the country, with reporters and correspondents having to rely on eye witness accounts, human rights organisations and official information released by the authorities.
This piece has been written by her friend Rosita Boland.
