On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, we’re revisiting this video, which we first posted several months ago — it’s NBC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent, Richard Engel, detailing to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow the horrifying tale of how he was abducted by pro-Assad forces within Syria, and how he came to be freed. Engel is one of the lucky ones (extremely lucky, considering the content of his story) — 23 professional journalists have been killed covering the civil war, the majority of them Syrian, on top of dozens more slain citizen journalists.
Last night NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Richard Engel recounted, to Rachel Maddow, the tale of how he and his crew were kidnapped by government loyalists while en route to a rebel base in northern Syria. It’s a harrowing story, to be sure, but one most definitely worth your time.
There was a media blackout on this story, but Gawker notably broke it. Fortunately, NBC News journalist Richard Engel and the rest of his team were able to escape harm after being kidnapped in Syria last week. They were freed after a firefight at a Syrian checkpoint. “It is good to be here. I’m very happy that we’re able to do this live shot this morning,” Engel said. Very glad to hear he’s OK; Engel is one of our best.
NBC News correspondent Richard Engel reports via Twitter: The gate to #iraq is closed. Soldier just told me, ‘that’s it, the war is over’ http://bit.ly/uz1jQg
War is over (if you want it)
Close call for NBC’s Richard Engel: Engel, a truly fantastic foreign correspondent (and NBC’s chief correspondent in the Middle East) is on the ground in Libya, covering the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi. While interviewing rebel forces, an artillery strike hit that sent Engel scrambling for cover behind a tiny cement wall, a harrowingly close call. Not to be overlooked is the sight Engel was describing as the explosion hit; a rebel fighter who was carrying a plastic toy gun around, presumably to try to trick enemies into thinking he’s lethally armed, a toy gun he amazingly darts out of cover to try to retrieve during the strike. source
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