Foreign journalist killed in Syria while covering pro-government rally

A French television journalist was among several people killed in Homs, Syria on Wednesday.

The journalist, Gilles Jacquier of France 2 TV, died while covering a pro-government rally, the network confirmed. Others details about the killing were not immediately known.

According to the network, Jacquier was on a rare government-sanctioned reporting trip with another France 2 reporter, who was uninjured. Most foreign journalists have been barred from the country since the March 2011 uprising began.

CNN's Nic Robertson, who has been covering the unrest in Syria, reported that Jacquier and 10 others, including an unnamed Dutch journalist, were hit by mortar fire. "One round was fired, according to the information we have so far," Robertson said. "The crowd and the journalist moved towards it to find out what was happening, and three more rounds came in." The Dutch journalist and nine others were wounded; they are being treated at hospital in Homs, according to Robertson.

In a statement, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned the attack, and called for investigation by the Syrian government. "It's up to Syrian authorities to ensure the security of international journalists on their territory," Juppe said, "and to protect this fundamental liberty which is the freedom of information."

The incident that claimed Jacquier's life "shows the volatility of the situation," Robertson said. "We saw the journalists literally minutes before rally took place."

Robertson's crew chose not to attend the rally. On Tuesday, he delivered a video report from a tense anti-government rally several miles from the Syrian capital.

CNN said that Jacquier was one of two people killed during the rally, though other news outlets--including London's Telegraph--reported that eight people died at the demonstration in Homs.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least two local cameramen were killed in late 2011, including one in Homs. Last week, two other journalists--a host on state-owned Radio Damascus and an editor with the state-owned Al-Thawra newspaper--were also killed. But Jacquier is the first Western journalist to die in Syria since the uprising began 10 months ago.

And the Mideast in general remains a dangerous region for Western news outlets to cover. A story published in the New York Times on Tuesday about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's defiant speech withheld a Times reporter's name out of fear for his or her safety:

"It is a common practice to withhold bylines when reporters are reporting from a dangerous region or country," Times spokesman Robert Christie told Yahoo News.

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