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Missing journalists in Libya are among the apparent victims of scores of attacks on the media in recent weeks.  The New York Times said Wednesday four of its journalists are missing.

The journalists, who were reported missing Tuesday, are counted among more than 40 attacks on media personnel since February, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

The committee said it has recorded "25 detentions, five assaults, two attacks on news facilities, the jamming of al-Jazeera and al-Hurra transmissions, at least three instances of obstruction and the interruption of Internet service" since Feb. 16.

The missing Times employees are Beirut Bureau Chief Anthony Shadid, reporter Stephen Farrell, and photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario.

Addario and Farrell were kidnapped previously: Addario in Iraq in 2004 and Farrell in Afghanistan in 2009, The Pointer Institute said.

"We have talked with officials of the Libyan government in Tripoli, and they tell us they are attempting to ascertain the whereabouts of our journalists," Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said. "We are grateful to the Libyan government for their assurance that if our journalists were captured they would be released promptly and unharmed."

Source: UPI