Beirut (ANTARA News/AFP) - A journalist from the cultural section of the government daily Tishrin was shot dead Wednesday at his home in Damascus during a search operation by the army, his friends said.

"They were looking for Musab al-Odallah and killed him because he was close to the opposition. He was in charge of the cultural section of Tishrin. This is murder," said one of the friends when contacted by telephone.

Four foreign journalists and several Syrian journalists have been killed by security forces or by rebels since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted 17 months ago. (AK)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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