Syrian activists' video: Marie Colvin buried in Homs

A video posted online by Syrian activists Thursday claims Long Island native Marie Colvin, one of two journalists killed Feb. 22 in Homs, has been buried in the embattled city.

In the two-minute video posted on YouTube, a somber man praises the work of Colvin, 56, a foreign correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, before showing the wrapped body of a woman with a partly burned face.

"Marie Colvin was martyred in Baba Amr because she was sending a heavenly message, a humanitarian message," the man said, according to The Associated Press. "She was telling the truth about what is happening in Baba Amr."

The video ends as the burial starts. As dirt falls on her body, the man says: "May God be merciful to her."

The burial was in a cemetery in the neighborhood of Baba Amr, where Colvin was killed, according to the unidentified activists. They decided to bury her, according to the video, because they didn't have electricity to keep her body refrigerated.

A Colvin family contact on Long Island did not immediately comment Thursday. A State Department official could not offer any new details.

"We can only confirm her actual death, and out of respect for the family, we are not commenting beyond that," the spokesman said.

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The department has said it is working with the Polish embassy in Damascus to seek the repatriation of Colvin's remains.

Colvin's mother, Rosemarie Colvin, 79, of East Norwich, made an impassioned plea earlier this week for the U.S. government and international community to help bring her daughter home.

"I won't rest until . . . we can have her here, on Long Island, where she was born and where she grew up and where she belongs," Colvin said.

French photographer Rémi Ochlik was also killed in the rocket attack that claimed Colvin's life. There was no mention of his remains in the video.

With AP