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Alert

Four foreign journalists briefly held by Hezbollah activists

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the requirements imposed on foreign journalists by Hezbollah, the Party of God, in the areas it controls. Press accreditation issued by the Lebanese information ministry is of no use in Hezbollah-controlled areas, where journalists must obtain permission from the party's press bureau.

Three Brazilian journalists - reporter Marcos Losékan and cameraman Paulo Pimentel of TV Globo, and Tariq Saleh, an independent filmmaker of Lebanese origin - were arrested by Hezbollah while filming in a restaurant in the south Beirut district of Dahiyeh on 15 August 2008, three days after French journalist David Hury was briefly detained by Hezbollah.

The Brazilians were taken to three different locations during the five hours they were held. Pimentel managed to film some of their arrest and to hide the videocassette before his camera was confiscated. In his report, Losékan said they were released on condition they immediately take a flight leaving for London.