Libyan government has decided to deport 26 foreign journalists on the grounds that their visas had expired. The names of journalists, who had all been invited to Tripoli by the government, were posted in the lobby of the hotel where they were staying. They were initially told they would have to leave the same day. But the authorities announced later that their “departure was postponed until 9 April. Reporters Without Borders reports that it is outraged by the Libyan government’s decision which the organization calls “mass deportation.” Today’s mass expulsion follows a series of individual arrests and deportations in recent weeks. The most recent was that of Daily Telegraph correspondent, Damien McElroy, who was asked to leave Libya on 3 April, preceded by Michael Georgy, an American journalist working for Reuters, on 30 March. The Libyan authorities provided no explanation. Reporters Without Borders has also learned from a reliable source that four journalists – a South Africa, two Americans and a Spaniard – have been missing in the east of the country since 4 April. Lofti Ghars, a journalist with Canadian and Tunisian dual citizenship who works for Al-Alam TV was arrested by pro-Gaddafi forces on 16 March as he arrived in Libya from Tunisia. Three Al-Jazeera journalists who were arrested in early March – Mauritian reporter Ahmed Vall Ould el-Dine, Norwegian photographer Ammar Al-Hamdane and British photographer Kamel Ataloua – are meanwhile still being held by pro-Gaddafi forces in the west of the country. A fourth Al-Jazeera journalist who was arrested at the same time, Tunisian Lotfi Messaoudi, was released on 31 March. Reporters Without Borders also reiterates its concern about Rana Akbani, a woman reporter of Syrian nationality, who has been missing in eastern Libya since 28 March. Photo: rsf.org