Two Western journalists killed in Syria: activist

Two Western journalists were killed today in shelling by Syrian regime forces of the flashpoint city of Homs, an activist said.

The two were killed when a shell crashed into a makeshift media centre set up by anti-regime activists in Baba Amr district, under siege since February 4, activist Omar Shaker told AFP from the area.

He said three other foreign journalists were wounded.The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the two journalists killed were an American woman and a French man.

The Syrian opposition said the journalists' deaths were almost certainly the result of shelling by regime forces.

"Homs is a very, very dangerous place," said Basma Kodmani, spokeswoman for the Syrian National Council, the most representative opposition umbrella group.

"I see no reason why opposition members would shoot at journalists," she said. "It is, therefore, most probably related to the regime."

French television reporter Gilles Jacquier was killed in Homs last month as a shell exploded amid a group of journalists covering protests in the city on a visit organised by the Syrian authorities.