Spanish journalist abducted in Syria: newspaper

Residents drive motorcycles and cars to flee during fighting between rebels and regime forces close to Hama, on January 27, 2013. (AFP/File)

MADRID (AFP) – A special correspondent in Syria for the Spanish newspaper El Periodico has been kidnapped in the war-torn country, the paper announced late Monday in its online edition.

"Journalist Marc Marginedas abducted in Syria", the headline said, adding that Marginedas has been "in the hands of a rebel group since September 4, the last day he was in contact with editors in Barcelona".

According to El Periodico, citing "various sources", the reporter "was travelling by car with the driver who was accompanying him when he was stopped by jihadist fighters on the outskirts of the city of Hama, in the west of Syria."

Since his abduction, the newspaper said it has not been able to contact Marginedas, who was on his third trip to Syria since the conflict began in March 2011.

Marginedas had entered Syria on September 1 from southern Turkey "accompanied by members of the opposition Syrian Free Army," which is fighting to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

El Periodico said so far no Syrian opposition group has claimed to be holding the journalist.

Earlier this month a kidnapped Italian reporter Domenico Quirico was freed and said he faced "daily humiliation" during five months in captivity in Syria and was "treated like animals" by his captors, a rebel group called al-Faruk.

He said he had probably been betrayed by members of the Free Syrian Army.