Sources told the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression that the Syrian journalist Lina Ibrahim left home Tuesday morning  25/10/2011 to go to work but has not returned to this date. The source also confirmed that the Syrian journalist Wael Yousef Abaza has disappeared on the same day in Damascus and no information about him has come to light since that time.

Lina Ibrahim, born in 1980 and graduated from the Faculty of English Literature from the University of Damascus, works in the field of journalism.

Wael Abaza, born in 1975 and graduate of the Faculty of Information in 2001, is a freelance journalist and writes for many newspapers and Arabic sites.

Both of the journalists’ families have formally notified the police of the journalists’ disappearance. We learned that Ibrahim’s family has officially notified the police branch in Harasta (Damascus Suburbs) on Wednesday morning  26/10/2011. The family, however, has not received any official response from the authorities concerned to  the issuance of this statement.

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression asserts that it is the legal, constitutional and moral responsibility of the State to ensure the safety and security of the citizens, calling authorities to take necessary measures to disclose the fate of the disappeared journalists and bring them back safely to their homes.