Syrian rebels to protect journalists

Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces have established a new battalion tasked with protecting journalists and foreign experts working inside rebel-held areas of Syria. Captain Mahmoud Abdul Salam, who commands the FSA’s Saad bin Moaaz battalion, claimed the new unit would “provide security and logistical support to foreign experts inside liberated areas.” The news comes against the backdrop of the kidnapping of one British and one Italian workers for French NGO the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED). The two foreigners were abducted in the village of Otma, close to the Syrian-Turkish border. Sources reported unidentified gunmen attacked an escort carrying the two NGO workers. “The identities of the kidnappers as well as their motives or demands are still unknown,” the said.