FOLLOWING REVELATIONS EARLIER today that a BBC team was held and assaulted by pro-Gaddafi forces earlier this week, two journalists have been reported missing in Libya.

Ghaith Abdul-Ahal, a correspondent for the Guardian, and a Brazilian journalist travelling with him have been out of contact since Sunday.

The Guardian says “urgent efforts” are underway to locate Abdul-Ahad, who entered Libya through Tunisia and has been reporting from the troubled north African country for two weeks.

Missing

Abdul-Ahad was last seen outside Zawiyah, a town in western Libya which has been the site of heavy fighting recently between Gaddafi and opposition forces.

Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S Paulo says it lost direct contact with its reporter Andrei Netto a week ago and fears he has been taken prisoner. The AP reports that a Libyan guide was travelling with Netto and Abdul-Ahad.

Both publications had received third-party contact from their correspondents on Sunday. Reporters Without Borders claims to two men have been arrested and imprisoned by government forces, according to Al Jazeera, but their location has not been released.

Earlier today, the BBC said that three of its employees were arrested at a checkpoint on Monday and held for 21 hours, during which they were beaten and subjected to mock executions. Two of the men, Goktay Koraltan and Feras Killani, said they believed they would be killed by their captors, even when they were told they could leave.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned attacks on journalists in Libya, Yemen and Egypt.

The CPJ said that foreign journalists, particularly in Libyan capital Tripoli, were allowed into the country specifically on the invitation of the authorities, “so it is absurd when those very same authorities prevent them from doing their work”.

Today, France became the first country to recognise the Libyan opposition’s transitional council. France’s foreign minister Alain Juppe said: “We must now engage in dialogue with the new representatives in Libya”. Meanwhile, Germany’s foreign minister said that “no further cooperation with Gaddafi is possible”.

- Includes reporting from the AP