Fausto Biloslavo (born in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, 13 November 1961) is an Italian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. As a correspondent and freelance journalist, he witnessed conflicts from the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

to the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. Most recently he reported from

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

Biography

Fausto Biloslavo was born and raised in

, where he also attended school. He graduated from

Trieste University The University of Trieste (, or UniTS, Formerly Regia Università degli Studi or The Royal University of Studies) is a public research university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. The university consists of 10 ...

in Political Sciences / International branch. In 1982 at the age of 21, Biloslavo was in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

during the civil war, as a freelance writer and photographer, during the Siege of Beirut in the summer of 1982. During the Israeli drive he was the only one to witness the then PLO leader

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

, fleeing

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

. In 1983 with two right-wing friends, Almerigo Grilz and Gian Micalessin, Biloslavo founded the Albatross Press Agency, a freelance agency. The agency produced TV reports, and first hand war correspondence from the world's hot spots, selling its works to the main international networks, mainly to CBS and NB in the English-speaking countries, but even to the German NDR, and the TSI (Italian Swiss Television channel). In

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, beside the highly negative prejudice that surrounded the agency for being founded by former members of the right-wing party MSI-DN, Albatross gained notoriety for selling his stories to ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' and to the state-owned RAI TV news TG1. During these years Albatross covered news from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. In 1987 Biloslavo crossed into Afghanistan from

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and spent four months living with Mujaheddin. On his way back to Pakistan he was stopped by the

Afghan Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ; ), also known as the Afghan Police, is the national police force of the Afghanistan, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The first police officer i ...

. He was detained for seven months and sentenced to a seven-year-sentence to be spent in the Pul I Charki prison in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. He was released after 202 days of detention, thanks to the personal intervention of former Italian president Francesco Cossiga. In March 1997 he negotiated the release of Mauro Galliani, an Italian reporter kidnapped in

Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...

. Biloslavo is married to Cinzia and lives in Trieste with his wife and daughter. He is a member of the Paratrooper Association or ANPd'I of Trieste. On April 19, 2012, Fausto Biloslavo was awarded the Giorgio Lago prize. Biloslavo writes articles for newspapers in Italy, including ''Il Foglio'', ''Il Giornale'', and magazines including ''Panorama'' and ''The Europeo''.

References

* * * * ''Prigioniero in Afghanistan'' (''Prisoner in Afghanistan'') by Fausto Biloslavo Publisher: Sugar Co. Edizioni, Milano, 1989 * ''Gli occhi della Guerra'' (''The Eyes of War''), 2007 * Gian Paolo Pelizzaro, LIBANO. UNA POLVERIERA NEL MEDITERRANEO, Afghanistan, ultima trincea di Gian Micalessin e Fausto Biloslavo – Boroli Editore

External links

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* https://archive.today/20130118210347/http://bollettinotrieste.com/2012/04/19/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Biloslavo, Fausto Italian war correspondents Living people 1961 births