2 Spanish journalists freed in Syria

Two Spanish journalists were freed after being held captive for six months in Syria by a rogue al-Qaida group, El Mundo newspaper for which one of the men worked said Sunday. With the release of reporter Javier Espinosa and photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, there are at least another nine foreign correspondents missing in Syria, and 10 Syrian reporters. Espinosa and Vilanova were held since September by the breakaway group, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who detained them at a checkpoint in the town of Tal Abyad in the eastern province of Raqqa, where the militants dominate. The two were trying to leave Syria at the time. Espinosa made contact with the newspaper El Mundo late Saturday evening from Turkey, where the two were in the care of the Turkish military, the newspaper said. They are expected to arrive in Spain on Sunday. The newspaper provided no further details on their release. It was not clear whether the two were freed by their captors or escaped.