Three weeks ago many of us listened to this voice, a sudden cry from inside Benghazi, calling out to the world with the message that Libyan rebels were fighting for their freedom. That voice was of Mohammed Nabbous and his livestreams became Libya Alhurra (Libya Freedom). Mo has been broadcasting from inside the city ever since, delivering updates, visiting and filming scenes of carnage and of rebellion, letting the world see what his city was experiencing with a courage and clarity that few journalists can claim.

Overnight he was out again, driving from one end of Benghazi to another as he tried to track down the source of major explosions heard in Benghazi and then reporting on an attack by Gadaffi forces.

I am sorry to inform you that Mohammed Nabbous, the founder of Libya AlHurra TV, was killed this morning while reporting on the attacks from the pro-Gaddafi forces. He touched the hearts of many with his bravery and indomnitable spirit. He will be dearly missed and leaves behind his young wife and unborn child…

Mo’s objective in founding Libya AlHurra was to help his countrymen by getting the word out about what is happening in Libya. Please honor this courageous man and help him realize his dream by using his footage in your broadcasts.

You can listen here to Mo explaining how and why in this interview with Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat on Feb. 26 while she was on assignment Benghazi.

One viewer has described what made Mo’s work so inspiring:

Muhammad’s activities were particularly interesting to me. While at home in front of his webcam, we would take phone number requests from the thousands of people monitoring his web channel and reach out to loved ones on behalf of those overseas. All phone calls to Libya continue to be blocked by the government, but telecommunications works inside Libya, so to many hundreds Muhammad would function as a lifeline to connect families and provide status updates to those concerned outside Libya.

Muhammad would also conduct other activities as a citizen journalist, for example, last night while I was monitoring his channel there were around 20-30 explosions inside Benghazi. The young man connected one cell phone to his webcam, grabbed another cell phone and his camera, and drove around to various checkpoints to investigate the explosions while live streaming audio descriptions to those watching. He would hold the camera with one hand, drive with the other, hold the cell phone in his lap and describe all activities.

Watch live streaming video from libya17feb at livestream.com
His wife Perditta has recorded this announcement and a memorial facebook page has been launched to share our sorrow at the loss of this brave voice for freedom.