Reporters Without Borders expressed relief for Saturday's release of two Spanish journalists, El Mundo's Middle East correspondent Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, who had been held hostage in Syria since September 2013.
"We are delighted by the release of Espinoza and Garcia Vilanova, which follows that of another Spanish journalist, Marc Marginedas, on March 2, and we hope that all the other professional and amateur journalists who are hostages or in prison in Syria will also be freed soon," said Christophe Deloire, the RWB secretary-general.
A total of 15 foreign journalists and more than 20 Syrian news providers are still hostages or missing in Syria, while the government is holding around 40 Syrian journalists and citizen-journalists in its jails, according to RWB.
"We want to thank everyone who has worried about us and who has made it possible for us to return home, and as you can see, we are perfectly well," said Espinosa, who addressed supporters and family on the tarmac of the Torrejon de Ardoz military airport in Madrid.
"Thank you so much. I'm sorry for what we have made you go through. I'm sorry for what we have made you go through," Espinosa later added, in an address to his El Mundo newsroom.
El Mundo reported that the two journalists were handed over to authorities in Turkey, "and showed a picture of them together in apparent good health and spirits at the airport in Beirut," according to CNN.
This is the second time the men were kidnapped in their journalistic careers; previously Espinosa was abducted while covering a conflict in Sierra Leone, and Garcia was kidnapped while in Syria for about 12 days in 2012, according to Gervasio Sanchez, a Spanish veteran war photographer.
"Media rights groups say nearly 30 reporters have been killed there since the conflict began in March 2011. With the two Spanish journalists now free, there are at least nine more foreign correspondents still missing in Syria as well as 10 Syrian reporters," as reported by The Associated Press.
"Government-backed militias, criminal gangs and more moderate rebel factions also have been involved with motives ranging from ransom to prisoner exchanges," also reported by The AP.
Monica Garcia Prieto, Espinosa's partner tweeted: "Pure happiness."
Meanwhile, more than 130,000 people have been killed in the 3-year Syrian Civil War, according to UN estimates.
