Post date: May 31, 2013 5:28:51 PM
Syrian state television releases what it says are the names of a British citizen and American woman killed in the country.
SYRIA (BROADCAST ON MAY 30, 2013) (SYRIAN TV) - Syrian state-run television has released what it said were the names of a British citizen and American woman killed in the country.
Syrian TV showed a British passport bearing the name of Ali al-Manasifi on Friday (May 31) and showed a passport and driving license bearing the name of Nicole Mansfield of Flint, Michigan on Thursday (May 30).The state broadcaster also showed pictures of a damaged car with broken windows.
Mansfield's family said the 33-year-old convert to Islam had been killed in Syriawhile fighting with opposition forces against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war.
Mansfield's aunt, Monica Mansfield Speelman, told Reuters that the FBI had informed her on Thursday afternoon of the death of her niece, but said she did not have the details of how she died.
Speelman said that Mansfield had converted to Islam about five years ago but that she did not know when her niece had travelled to Syria.
A U.S. State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, had earlier told Reuters that Washington was working via the Czech Republic mission in Syriato get more information.