Published May 11, 2011
A screengrab of James Foley reporting from Libya. (Courtesy GlobalPost)
It’s Day 36 for four journalists detained in Tripoli, Libya. And for the first time, the two American journalists were able to receive a visitor — an intermediary who said they are in good health.
James Foley, of New Hampshire, was one of the reporters who was arrested in Libya on April 5 by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi while covering the conflict near the eastern town of Brega. He’s a correspondent for the Boston-based news agency GlobalPost.
GlobalPost CEO Phil Balboni told WBUR that a diplomat was able to meet with Foley and fellow captive Clare Morgana Gillis, a Harvard graduate who has written for USA Today and The Atlantic.
“I can’t imagine that there’s any stone that’s been left unturned here to try to get them home, and we do hope that they will be home soon,” Balboni said.
The two are in good health, according to a GlobalPost report, and Balboni said the indications are that they will be released soon.
Tonight, Harvard University is scheduled to hold a vigil for the journalists from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the steps of Memorial Church.
Jesse C. Howell, a coordinator of the vigil and friend of Gillis’, told The Harvard Crimson:
Our primary hope is that the U.S. State Department would be successful in securing Clare’s release, but I think … there is an international interest in Clare as an individual and … in the freedom of journalists to pursue their work around the world.
A week ago, to mark World Press Freedom Day, Foley’s mother, Diane Foley, spoke to Radio Boston after finally hearing from her son who had been in custody 17 days, on April 23.
In recent weeks, leaders and government officials across the country, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have requested the release of reporters and spoken about the need for journalists in areas like the war-torn Arab World.
President Obama reiterated concerns over journalists’ safety to the journalists at the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner on April 30.
“We’ve seen daring men and women risk their lives with the simple idea that no one should be silenced and everyone deserves to know the truth,” Obama said. “At your best, that’s what journalism is.”