Journalists ordered out of Libya*

*While talking to Warren Olney on today's "To The Point," New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick, who's in Tripoli, received word that he and some 25 other journalists are being ordered out of Libya. A message slipped under Kirkpatrick's door informed him that he must be out of the country by tomorrow morning. He and the other journalists are "staying" at the Rixos Hotel in Libya's capital city. The entire interview can be heard here.

Here's a clip of Kirkpatrick's report:

  Western journalists ordered to leave Libya by KCRW

*Update: NPR has received the same report from its reporter in Tripoli, Lourdes-Garcia Navarro. "Things are subject to change," NPR added, "Some reporters have been told in the recent past that they were being expelled, only to later be allowed to stay."

Four New York Times journalists released by Libya

Libya has released four New York Times journalists captured by pro-Gadhafi forces six days ago near the city of Ajdabiya. The four were handed over to the Turkish ambassador in Tripoli and are expected to be moved to Tunisia today.

From the Times:

The journalists are Anthony Shadid, The Times’s Beirut bureau chief, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes for international reporting; two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, who have extensive experience in war zones; and a reporter and videographer, Stephen Farrell, who in 2009 was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and was rescued by British commandos. 

The four journalists were found on Friday, but their situation became tenuous after the UN Security Council voted to implement a no-fly zone over Libya.

(photo found via the National Journal. pictured from left are Farrell, Hicks, Turkish ambassador Levent Sahinkaya, Addario, and Shadid)

Four New York Times journalists found in Libya

Turns out the four New York Times journalists who went missing in Libya were captured by Col. Moammar Gadhafi's forces. The Libyan dictator's son says they will be released today.

From AP:

The journalists are Anthony Shadid, The Times' Beirut bureau chief and a two-time Pulitzer-prize winning foreign correspondent; two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, who have extensive experience in war zones; and a reporter and videographer, Stephen Farrell, who in 2009 was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan and was rescued by British commandos.

Gadhafi has reportedly called a cease-fire in his country, a day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution to allow "all necessary measures" to stop his forces from attacking civilian rebel groups.