Our friend and colleague, 33 year-old Maya Nasser, Press TV’s correspondent in Syria, was shot in the neck by a gunman on Wednesday, 26 September 2012, while covering the double attack against the Syrian Ministry of Defence. He was murdered by terrorists as they were trying to take advantage of the bedlam to get into the burning building.

During his lifetime, Nasser Maya had never experienced anything except a war-torn Middle East. He was an exemplary journalist. He was also a sensitive and generous man who had dedicated his life to the Resistance and was always prepared for the exteme sacrifice.

Another colleague, Al-Alam bureau chief Hossein Morteza was wounded during the same incident.

Syria has been under attack for the past 18 months by mercenaries, funded by Qatar and overseen by NATO. They are intent on dismantling the secular institutions, undermining the defense system of a country partly occupied since 1967, and imposing a religious dictatorship in which Christian and Muslim minorities would not have their place. The conflict has already claimed more than 30,000 Syrian victims (civilian and military) and more than 6000 deaths among the foreign jihadists.

During the Battle of Damascus (mid-July), the Contras had mounted an exceptionally violent operation, shelling for three solid days the studios shared by Press TV and Al-Alam.