Journalists missing in Libya

Four journalists covering the fighting in Libya for The New York Times are missing, Reuters reported.

The Times said the journalists, who included two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Shadid, were last in contact with their editors on Tuesday morning from the town of Ajdabiya.

Also missing were Stephen Farrell - a reporter and videographer who was kidnapped by the Taleban in 2009 and rescued by British commandos - and two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, the newspaper 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," Bill Keller, the executive editor of The New York Times, said in a statement.

He said the Libyan government had assured the Times that if the journalists had been captured, they would be released promptly and unharmed.