( CNN ) -- Four Italian journalists were kidnapped Wednesday in Libya by unknown assailants , a spokesman for the Italian foreign ministry confirmed to CNN . One of the journalists was able to call his newspaper , and according to his editor he reported that he and his colleagues had been beaten when they were taken , and one of their drivers had been killed . The foreign ministry spokesman , Maurizio Massari , said the four reporters were kidnapped on a road about 80 kilometers ( about 50 miles ) from Tripoli . Massari said while it was unclear who captured the journalists , the ministry assumed it was pro-Gadhafi forces . He also said it was unclear what demands , if any , the kidnappers had . Massari said that the journalists , all from prominent Italian daily newspapers , were well . He did not elaborate . Paolo Alfieri , foreign editor of the newspaper Avvenire , identified the four as Elisabetta Rosaspina and Giuseppe Sarcina from the newspaper Corriere della Sera , Sono Domenico Quirico from La Stampa , and Claudio Monici from Avvenire . Alfieri told CNN that those holding the journalists allowed Monici to make a call to his newsroom , and Monici told his colleagues that he had been traveling with the others from the town of Zawiya toward Tripoli when they were stopped at a roadblock . Monici said he and the other journalists were beaten , and one of the drivers was killed . Alfieri said Monici 's voice was `` calm '' during the call to his newsroom , and Monici reported that at the time he and the others were `` well . '' The call lasted about five to six minutes , Alfieri said , and Monici asked him to alert the Italian foreign ministry and the other newspapers . Monici did not say anything about what the kidnappers were demanding . Alfieri said that Monici had been in Zawiya since Sunday night and had arrived there from Tunis . Monici and the other journalists are all experienced war reporters Alfieri said . Monici also told his colleagues there was a lot of shooting in Zawiya , and it was more than `` festivities shooting '' that has occurred as rebel forces have advanced , according to Alfieri . Massari said late Wednesday that the Italian consul in Benghazi , Guido De Sanctis , had reached one of the four reporters by phone . De Sanctis said the journalists were well , and were in Tripoli , according to Massari . It was not clear which of the four reporters De Sanctis spoke with .
The four are reporters from prominent Italian Wednesday newspapers . An Italian foreign ministry official says the kidnappers are believed to be Maurizio Massari . four of the journalists called his newspaper and reported that the One were beaten . The four were taken at a roadblock about 50 miles from Tripoli .