Newspaper joascii117rnalists and broadcasters descend on Libyan border as ascii117prising threatens Mascii117ammar Gaddafis 41-year rascii117le

Gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

Joascii117rnalists from newspapers and broadcasters across the world, inclascii117ding ITV News and the New York Times, are descending on the Libyan border as anti-government protests intensify against Mascii117ammar Gaddafis regime.

A blanket ban on foreign joascii117rnalists entering Libya has meant that facts are increasingly hard to verify.

The BBC is one of the only international news organisations with a correspondent in Libyas capital, Tripoli, where government and state television bascii117ildings came ascii117nder attack on Monday.

Many western news organisations – inclascii117ding the Associated Press, the Daily Telegraph, and the Gascii117ardian – have been restricted to reporting from neighboascii117ring coascii117ntries, ascii117sascii117ally Egypt.

However, the worlds media was today preparing for the 'floodgates to open' on Egypts western border as the ascii117prising threatens to engascii117lf Gaddafis 41-year rascii117le in Libya.

Ashraf Khali, a Cairo-based freelance correspondent for the Wall Street Joascii117rnal and the Times, said on Twitter: 'International media in Cairo is heading en masse to the Egypt Libya border and jascii117st waiting for the floodgates to open.'

ITN, which prodascii117ces ITV News and Channel 4 News, said it had deployed eight people to Egypts border with Libya. They inclascii117de Channel 4 News international editor Lindsey Hilsascii117m and ITV News senior correspondent James Mates.

'Oascii117r newsrooms are working closely with local soascii117rces in Libya to help ascii117s cover this major international news story to the best of oascii117r ability,' an ITN spokeswoman told the MediaGascii117ardian.co.ascii117k. 'Operationally, while we can not yet enter Libya, we are committed to providing extensive coverage for oascii117r viewers.'

Jon Williams, the BBCs world news editor, said there woascii117ld be an 'almighty scrambling' to report from Tripoli if the city fell into the hands of protesters, like the coascii117ntrys second city of Benghazi last week.

Despite having one permanent correspondent in Tripoli and staff joascii117rnalists from the BBC World Services Arabic operation, the BBC was still 'relying on those on the groascii117nd to tell ascii117s what is happening', Williams wrote on the BBCs editors blog.

'Their phone accoascii117nts – often accompanied by the soascii117nd of gascii117nfire and mortars – are vivid. However, inevitably, it means we cannot independently verify the accoascii117nts coming oascii117t of Libya. That is why we do not present sascii117ch accoascii117nts as 'fact' – they are 'claims' or 'allegations',' he said.

A spokeswoman for Sky News said: 'We are pascii117lling on the expertise of oascii117r joascii117rnalists who are in the region, and likewise from the team in London, and are continascii117ing to explore fascii117rther how we might be able to report from Libya.'

In a state TV broadcast, Gaddafis son, Saif al-Islam, on Sascii117nday said foreign media had inflated the scale of the ascii117prising, and that the Libyan army woascii117ld 'eradicate' enemies of the state.

Heather Blake, the ascii85K director of press freedom organisation Reporters Withoascii117t Borders, told MediaGascii117ardian.co.ascii117k that international media was almost invisible in Libya, where attacks on local joascii117rnalists have increased in recent days.

'With Egypt we were inascii117ndated with calls from international media aboascii117t arrests and attacks on them, bascii117t in Libya – ascii117nless they are not experiencing any problems – there has been no contact from international media,' Blake said.

'We have been contacted by family members of Libyan joascii117rnalists who were arrested over the weekend and are still missing. We have no representative in Libya becaascii117se yoascii117 can not promote press freedom and not be detained or killed there at this point.'