Al Jazeera urges Syria to release reporter

Al-Jazeera television has urged Syrian authorities to release journalist Dorothy Parvaz who has been detained since she flew in to Damascus last week.

Parvaz, who holds American, Canadian and Iranian citizenship, was "detained upon arrival in Damascus six days ago (on Friday). She has had no contact with the outside world since," the Qatar-based news channel said.

Al-Jazeera, which has been accused of exaggerating anti-regime protests across the Arab world, said Syria had confirmed she was being held.

"Journalists have faced ever increasing restrictions in Syria since the protests began," it said. "We are worried about Dorothy's welfare, security and safety. Syria should release her immediately."

Contact lost

The satellite channel said on Monday that it had lost contact with Parvaz after she landed at Damascus airport on a Qatar Airways flight.

Parvaz, 39, who holds journalism fellowships at both Harvard and Cambridge, joined Al-Jazeera's English-language channel last year.

Nearly 100 people gathered outside the Damascus offices of Al-Jazeera last Saturday, accusing the network of "lies" and "exaggeration" over Syria's anti-regime protests.

Journalists restricted

News coverage has been tightly controlled in Syria since the outbreak of demonstrations in mid-March in which hundreds of protesters have been killed by security forces.

As few foreign journalists can secure visas to enter Syria, international media rely heavily on video footage filmed and released by the protesters themselves on sites such as YouTube.

The official Syrian media regularly accuse satellite channels including Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, BBC and France 24 of "manufacturing" images without checking their sources.

Seven Lebanese, three Egyptians, three Europeans and an Algerian -- most of them journalists who entered Syria without work permits -- are being held, according to Syrian human rights group Insan.