Reporter With Chicago Ties Detained In Libya
UPDATED 04/18/11 8:08 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- A 37-year-old graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism has been captured by Mohammar Qaddafi's forces in Libya while reporting on rebel activities there.
Foley had been covering the conflict for the Boston-based news organization, Global Post. Previously, he spent a lot of time in Chicago, attending Northwestern University and tutoring inmates at Cook County Jail.
Local friends of James Foley's on Sunday held a vigil in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, hoping to raise awareness about the reporter's plight.
His admirers urged the public and the U.S. government to demand that Libya release Foley and three other reporters.
"Jim wanted to tell the other story, he wanted to show the rebels side of it, a voice that couldn't be heard," friend Clancy Ryan said.
Ryan says publicity is the only way James Foley will be released.
Human Rights Watch published a story last week identifying Foley and several other journalists as being detained by Libyan forces on April 5, after their van was attacked.
Ryan says he last heard from his friend 13 days ago via instant message. Foley simply wrote about the number of journalists in the area and how rough it had become.
The journalist's family in New Hampshire also held a vigil to get the word out.
