Muheeb Al-Nawathy, a Palestinian journalist, has gone missing for two weeks in Syria. His family has had no word from him since January 5, nine days after he arrived in Damascus to do research for a book he is writing about Hamas, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF).
Nawathy was due to have returned on January 9 to Norway, where he has resided as a political refugee since 2007. His family reported his disappearance to the Norwegian police on January 11. RSF called on the Syrian authorities to do everything possible to locate him.
A former Gaza resident, Nawathy is regarded as a Fatah supporter. His first book, published in 2002, was titled Hamas from the inside. He used to work for the website of the Dubai-based satellite TV station Al-Arabiya.
His wife reported his disappearance to the Palestinian embassy in Oslo as well as to the Norwegian authorities, while his Gaza-based relatives and the Union of Palestinian Journalists have issued a joint appeal for information as to his whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Tal Al-Mallouhi, a 19-year-old student and blogger who has been detained since December 2009, was brought before a state security in Damascus for the second time on January 17. Her first appearance before the court was on 19 November, after she had been held incommunicado for nearly 11 months.
Mallouhi, who wrote about the Palestinian cause in her blog, is reportedly accused of spying for the United States. She is being held in solitary confinement in Duma prison, near Damascus. Internet users all over the world have been calling for her release (http://freetal.com/).
