Fri May 20, 2011 9:39AM
South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl
The family of South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, who went missing in Libya six weeks ago, say the freelance reporter has been killed by forces loyal to Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
"We believe that his injuries are such that he would not have survived without immediate medical attention. It is incredibly cruel that they (the Libyan regime) have been telling us that they had him," a family statement said on Friday.
Their hopes for Hammerl's survival were dashed when four foreign journalists, arrested along with him by the Libyan regime in Brega on April 5, were released by the government on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
The family statement said Hammerl had been shot in the stomach.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has said Libya holds no other reporters.
American journalists Clare Gillis and James Foley as well as Spanish photographer Manu Brabo appeared at a news conference on Wednesday only to confirm their names and were then taken to Rixos hotel in the capital, Tripoli.
Two photojournalists, Tim Hetherington and Getty photographer Chris Hondros, were killed last month in the port city of Misratah amid intensifying clashes between revolutionary forces and Gaddafi loyalists.
Meahwhile, NATO has continued its air strikes on Libya, hitting eight Libyan warships in the ports of Tripoli, Al Khums and Sirte early Friday.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim has made a new proposal for withdrawing government forces from all cities on the condition that revolutionary forces do the same and also provided that NATO stops its attacks.
US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that “time is working against Gaddafi,” and the Libyan ruler “inevitably leaves or is forced from power.”
MA/GHN/MB
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