DHAKA: Fighters linked to al-Qaida abducted a Spanish journalist and a photographer in a rebel-held eastern Syrian city in September.

El Mundo newspaper reported on Tuesday, says The Jerusalem Post.

Journalist Javier Espinosa and photographer Ricardo Garcia were taken by rebel group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on September 16 at a checkpoint in Raqqa, which fell to militant Islamist brigades in March, the paper reported.

The incident had not been reported until now because of negotiations with the rebels holding the men, the newspaper said.

BDST: 1607 HRS, DEC 10, 2013