Syria unrest: French journalist Gilles Jacquier killed

He was on a government-authorised trip to the city, the France 2 channel said.

Syrian TV said Jacquier was among eight killed. A colleague said that minutes earlier they had interviewed some people at a pro-government gathering.

Opposition groups say 24 people died around the country on Wednesday, including 10 in Homs.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has called for full clarification of what happened.

"We vigorously condemn this odious act," he said in a statement.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said an investigation was needed.

"The Syrian authorities have a responsibility to guarantee the safety of journalists in their country," she said.

More than 5,000 people have been killed since the unrest began last March, the UN says. The government says 2,000 security personnel have died combating "armed gangs and terrorists".

It is impossible to verify the claims as access for foreign journalists has been severely restricted.

Observers arrived in Syria in December to monitor an Arab League peace plan, but the killing has continued.

The league said on Wednesday it was delaying sending more monitors after an attack on an observer team earlier in the week, Reuters news agency reported.

Eleven observers were slightly injured in the attack, in the port city of Latakia.

Meanwhile at a joint news conference US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar, a key member of the Arab League, expressed doubts about the mission.

"I could not see up until now a successful mission, frankly speaking," Mr al-Thani said.

Full version