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| - The two Spanish journalists killed in an attack in Burkina Faso, David Beriain and Roberto Fraile, were hardnosed reporters respected by colleagues and with experience of working in conflict zones. Born in 1977, according to Spanish media reports, David Beriain, with his beard and blond hair, was formerly a correspondent with the 24-hour news channel CNN+, a now-defunct TV station partially owned by CNN. Co-founder and co-director of "93metros", a production firm that makes documentaries, he described himself on its website as a "journalist specialising in armed conflict, violence and embedded journalism". Born in Pamplona in the north, according to Spanish foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya, he regularly worked with Roberto Fraile, who was from Baracaldo in the Basque Country. A video and photo journalist, the 47-year-old Fraile, worked "until recently" for the regional TV channel CyLTV, according to a tweet by the broadcaster posted with a picture of him behind his camera. According to a number of Spanish media reports, Roberto Fraile was injured in Syria at the end of 2012, when he accompanied soldiers of the Free Syrian Army on a mission. "They were currently making a documentary about poachers," said Adriano Moran, the other co-founder and co-director of "93Metros", on the Spanish public channel TVE. Maron said that David Beriain was "one of Spain's and the world's great journalists" who had received "numerous prizes". He "always said that he was very scared, but that didn't stop him from being braver than anyone else." "He had this very strong human curiosity, this kindness. He was convinced that he was telling things with a wide-eyed look, that he was able to change things," said Moran. "He could show a hitman or an assassin and the public would come to empathise with him, to some extent understand the circumstances," he said. The reporter had, according to Moran, a satellite phone, although there had been no contact with him in recent days, "which he appreciated". In a statement, Alfonso Armada, president of the Spanish arm of Reporters Without Borders, described their deaths as an "irreparable loss". The two journalists represented the "most lively and dynamic journalism," seeking out facts on the ground, "wading through mud to tell reality up close and in all its complexity". "Their documentaries made in recent years have inspired many colleagues and young journalists," he Armada said. du-mig/mg/spm/ach
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