Johannesburg (dpa) – A freelance South African photojournalist has been kidnapped in Syria, the Syrian charity with which he was travelling said on Saturday.
Shiraaz Mohamed was seized in Darkouch near Idlib in the north-west on Tuesday, Imtiaz Sooliman from the charity Gift of the Givers said.
“Shiraaz was on his way with two of our people to the Turkish border on his way out of Syria. When they passed the Gift of the Givers Al-Hilal Hospital, two cars suddenly boxed them in,” he said.
Gunmen exited the cars and took the Syrian aid workers and Mohamed for “questioning”. The aid workers were released that day but the
gunmen held the South African, stating they would release him “in two days”.
According to Sooliman, Mohamed may have been kept because he was a foreigner and had taken photographs. The route where the kidnapping
occurred had been considered relatively safe, he said.
The kidnappers, whose identity is not known, have not asked for a ransom.
-ANA
