Sunday Times photographer smuggled out of Syria

Paul Conroy, a British photographer working for the Sunday Times, has been smuggled out of the besieged Syrian city of Homs and into neighbouring Lebanon.

According to the BBC, Conroy was transported from the Baba Amr district of the city with the assistance of the Syrian opposition and Free Syria Army fighters.

He was injured in the same attack that killed American Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik last week.

The safety of French Le Figaro journalist Edith Bouvier, who was also injured in the rocket attack, remains unclear.

Conroy's father Les confirmed reports to PA that his 47-year-old photographer son is safe in Lebanon.

"We've just had word from Beirut," he is quoted as saying. "I've got it on the other phone in my other hand."

In a video posted a few days ago on YouTube, Conroy said that he had received "three large wounds" in his leg, but was being treated by the Free Syria Army medical teams.



The Syrian Red Crescent was able to reach Baba Amr yesterday, evacuating three Syrians, reportedly a pregnant woman, her husband and an elderly woman. However, the organisation was unable to take the Western journalists.

Bouvier is thought to have been more seriously wounded than Conroy, but it is unclear whether she was also smuggled out of Baba Amr to Lebanon.

Reports today suggest that Homs has endured some of the heaviest bombardment so far in the conflict, while the government of President Bashar al-Assad is thought to have sent in elite armoured divisions in an attempt to clear out the rebel stronghold.

> The Times removes paywall from Marie Colvin's final report