AFP: The only international media organisation to enter Deraa
DERAA, SYRIA: Agence France-Presse has issued a statement to the effect that it was the only international media organisation to be able to get in to Deraa after a 10-day siege by Syrian security forces.
An AFP team comprising text, video and photo journalists were able to file their reports from inside the city on Thursday 5 May. The southern city has been the epicentre of anti-government protests engulfing the Middle Eastern country since 18 March. The agency says no other international media have been able to get access to the city for almost a month.
AFP claims to be the only international news agency to have been able to maintain a functioning bureau in Syria since the crisis began.