Journalists bodies leave Syria

The body of a Sunday Times journalist Maria Colvin has been flown out of Syria on board a French plane to Paris.

Poland's Foreign Ministry said the body of Ms Colvin, along with that of French photographer Remi Ochlik, left late on Saturday.

Syrian Red Crescent officials had handed over the bodies to embassy officials, with Polish diplomats taking the remains of American-born Ms Colvin following the closure of the US embassy in Damascus last month.

Diplomats in Syria have received the bodies of Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, a witness told Reuters.

British photographer Paul Conroy has told Channel 4 News that the situation in Syria "is not a war, but a massacre", allowing the crimes of the Syrian regime to continue.

British photographer Paul Conroy has told Sky News that US journalist Marie Colvin was one of the bravest people he knew, adding that working with her was an "absolute privilege".

The Sunday Times journalist died doing something she was "completely passionate" about, according to Mr Conroy, who was injured beside her. He said:

"She was in one of the most dangerous situations in the world at this current time and she just wanted to tell the truth".

• The bodies of journalists, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik have been recovered and are being taken to the Syrian capital Damascus.

• French Journalists Edith Bouvier and William Daniels have returned to France after being injured during a rocket attack.

• Sunday Times photographer, Paul Conroy has expressed his fears over the crisis Syria, urging the authorities to intervene.

The Syrian government has said it would like to express its "sadness and sorrow" at the death of US journalist Marie Colvin who was killed in the besieged city of Homs last week.

"As a natural humanitarian reaction it extends its sincere condolences," Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement released by its embassy in London.

Veteran war correspondent Colvin, who worked for Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed in a Syrian army bombardment on a rebel-held neighbourhood of Homs when shells hit a house being used as a media centre.

Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy who was injured in Syria, has told Channel 4 News that "very few people were evacuated" in Syria and that many were 'exterminated' as a result.