The three journalists were covering the fighting in Libya when they went missing. According to Agence France Presse, they have not been heard from Friday evening when the two AFP employees emailed their senior editors, informing them of their plans.

According to AFP, the three journalists were planning to travel "to an area about 30 km outside of the eastern oil-rich city of Tobruk on Saturday to meet opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and to speak to refugees fleeing the fighting."

Schmidt has worked for AFP since 1989. He is currently based in Nairobi as chief photographer for East Africa and the Indian Ocean. According to Visa Pour l'Image, which showed some of his most recent work in 2010, Schmidt has covered major conflicts around the world, including Iraq and Gaza, civil unrest and the earthquake in Haiti, plus crises in Somalia, Congo and Kenya.

Raedle has worked with Getty Images as a staff photographer since 2001 and has photographed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, four journalists for The New York Times, including photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, also disappeared in Libya. According to Libyan authorities, they were arrested for illegally entering the country, but they are set to be released in the coming days.

Since Libya's revolt began in February, the Committee to Protect Journalists "has documented more than 50 attacks on the press, including two fatalities, more than 33 detentions, five assaults, two attacks on news facilities, numerous instances of equipment confiscation, three cases of obstruction, the jamming of at least two satellite news transmissions, and the interruption of Internet service."

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