Appeal to find missing photographer

The wife of a UK-based photographer missing in Libya has renewed appeals for help in contacting her husband.

Penny Sukhraj said she was desperate for news of Anton Hammerl who is believed to have been seized by Gaddafi loyalists along with three other journalists on the outskirts of the east Libya oil town of Brega on April 5.

The 41-year-old, who lives in Surbiton, Surrey, but has South African and Austrian citizenship, is believed to be held separately in or around Tripoli from his captured colleagues.

Mr Hammerl's family has received no word from him since his disappearance although the three other journalists - two US correspondents and one Spanish photographer - were allowed to make a phone call to their families last weekend.

The award-winning photographer, who has covered conflicts in the past in Africa, had been working in Libya for a week as a freelance before he was seized.

His family and supporters are mounting a vigil at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, central London, on Tuesday evening in an effort to highlight his plight.

Ms Sukhraj, 35, who last spoke to her husband the evening before he disappeared, said they had been informed by the Austrian Government that two independent sources have told them Mr Hammerl is alive and well.

The couple have two children, seven-year-old Neo, and eight-week-old baby Hiro.

"It was a relief to be able to know that he is safe, but it is still very, very concerning," Ms Sukhraj said.

"We have not had any call from him and nobody has had access to him as far as we know to date.

"We want people to realise that this hasn't been resolved, and we are really appealing to anyone with any influence to help in any way that they can."