ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists called for Rudaw anchor Omar Kalo's immediate release by the Syrian government on Wednesday.
"The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Syrian authorities to immediately release Omar Kalo, a news anchor for the Iraqi Kurdish satellite news broadcaster Rudaw," stated CPJ on Wednesday.
Rudaw Media Network issued a statement on Tuesday that Kalo was being held by military intelligence in the city of Aleppo.
Kalo, a native of Kobane, was traveling to Aleppo to renew his passport with his family when they were separated at a Syrian government military checkpoint between Manbij and Aleppo on August 25.
"Even when traveling on personal business, a journalist in Syria is at risk of arbitrary detention," said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney from New York. "We call on the Syrian authorities to release Omar Kalo immediately."
But according to his relatives, he will be transferred to the Military Security (Palestine Branch) in Damascus.
The CPJ said the Syrian Defense Ministry did not immediately reply their emailed request for comment.
Rudaw was informed of his arrest on the same day he was arrested, but didn’t publish news of his arrest at the request of his family.
Kalo covered the Battle for Kobane on the ground and then came to work at Rudaw's headquarters in Erbil in 2015 as a news anchor. He has executed his duties as a news anchor on Rudaw television and radio very professionally.
Kalo completed his studies at the journalism school at the University of Damascus.
Syria is one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, according to the CPJ.
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