Madrid ( CNN ) -- Two Spanish journalists experienced in covering wars have been kidnapped in Syria by a group linked to al Qaeda , the newspaper El Mundo said Tuesday . The two journalists -- El Mundo staff correspondent Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova -- were kidnapped September 16 , foreign editor Ana Alonso told CNN . Garcia was traveling with Espinosa but not on assignment for El Mundo . After nearly three months of trying to secure their release quietly , El Mundo 's top editor , Pedro J. Ramirez , said the paper , in conjunction with the family , decided to make public the kidnappings on December 10 , which the United Nations designates annually as international Human Rights Day . `` Their captivity is a flagrant violation of human rights , of their free movement , and of all citizens who have the right to receive their information and images , '' Ramirez said at a Madrid news conference Tuesday . Espinosa , 49 , and Garcia , 42 , have made numerous trips to war-torn Syria , often together , and they organized their most recent visit together , Alonso said . Espinosa was previously kidnapped while covering a conflict in Sierra Leone , and Garcia was kidnapped last year in Syria for about 12 days , said Gervasio Sanchez , a Spanish veteran war photographer who knows both men , at the Madrid news conference . Both were subsequently released . This time , the newspaper and families got word through intermediaries that the two men were alive and being treated relatively well as of a month ago , in the same Syrian province where they were kidnapped . Ramirez said the paper believes both are still alive , although it is not clear if they are being held in the same location . Spain is involved in trying to secure the release of the two kidnapped journalists , but `` with absolute discretion , '' Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Tuesday . The government is in `` constant contact with the families '' Garcia-Margallo told reporters at an event in Madrid , the Foreign Ministry said . Espinosa 's wife , also a journalist , pleaded for the return of her husband and his colleague . `` Javier and Ricardo are not your enemy . Please , honor the revolution they protected , and set them free , '' Monica Prieto said during an emotional press conference in Beirut on Tuesday . `` Today we appeal to the Syrian people and all armed groups to help release Javier and Ricardo , who have always been committed to show the human face and suffering of the Syrian people during these very difficult times . '' The newspaper reported the men were kidnapped at the Tal Abyad checkpoint in Raqqa province , close to the Turkish border , as they prepared to leave Syria after two weeks of coverage . Italian journalist held captive in Syria is headed home . Their captors are reported to be members of a group linked to the al Qaeda-backed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and have not revealed demands to free the two . Initially , the captors said they wanted to ensure the two journalists were not spies , El Mundo said . The journalists were traveling with four fighters from the Free Syrian Army , who were also kidnapped , but released 12 days later . The fighters were supposed to have provided protection to the Spaniards , the newspaper reported . Last year , Espinosa was in the same makeshift press center in Baba Amr , Homs province , where correspondent Marie Colvin of The Sunday Times of London and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed . El Mundo reported an activist from Homs contacted the al Qaeda-linked captors to plead , unsuccessfully , for the release of the two Spanish journalists , telling them that Espinosa had helped evacuate wounded from Baba Amr last year . Another longtime Spanish war correspondent , Marc Marginedas , 46 , was kidnapped in Syria on September 4 , apparently by jihadi combatants near the city of Hama , his newspaper , El Periodico de Catalunya , reported on September 24 . CNN 's Nick Paton Walsh contributed to this report .
NEW : al Qaeda editor says abductions are in `` flagrant violation of human rights '' NEW : Wife of two captured journalist pleads for the return of the two abducted men . The two Islamic journalists were abducted in last year , newspaper says . Their captors are believed to be linked to an El Mundo -backed group .