Paris, 2 August—The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today denounced the killing of Russia Today (RT) correspondent, Khaled Alkhateb, on Sunday 30 July in Homs, Syria.

“I condemn the killing of Khaled Alkhateb” said the Director-General. “I call on all to respect the Geneva Conventions, which recognizes the targeting of journalists in conflict situations as a war crime. Information provided by the media can be vital for civilians’ chance to survive conflict and journalists must be allowed to carry out their important work. I urge media organizations, as well as the actors in the conflict and reporters themselves to take every possible measure to secure safe working conditions on the ground.”

Khaled Alkhateb was reporting near the town of Al-Sukhna in Syria, when a rocket killed him.

The Director-General of UNESCO issues statements on the killing of media workers in line with Resolution 29 adopted by UNESCO Member States at the Organization’s General Conference of 1997, entitled “Condemnation of Violence against Journalists.” These statements are posted on a dedicated webpage, UNESCO condemns the killing of journalists

****

Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12