Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned the requirements imposed on foreign journalists by Hezbollah in the areas it controls in Lebanon. Press accreditation issued by the Lebanese information ministry is of no use in Hezbollah-controlled areas, where journalists must obtain permission from the party's press bureau.
Three Brazilian journalists - reporter Marcos Losékan and cameraman Paulo Pimentel of TV Globo, and Tariq Saleh, an independent filmmaker of Lebanese origin - were arrested by Hezbollah while filming in a restaurant in the south Beirut district of Dahiyeh on August 15, three days after French journalist David Hury was briefly detained by Hezbollah.
The Brazilians were taken to three different locations during the five hours they were held. Pimentel managed to film some of their arrest and to hide the videocassette before his camera was confiscated. In his report, Losékan said they were released on condition they immediately take a flight leaving for London.
