Governor Tries To Get Jailed Reporter Freed

No, not the governor of the state that the Chicago Tribune resides in, but New Mexico's Bill Richardson.

(NBC5)The governor plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and ask for the release of Salopek, his driver and interpreter.

Salopek's wife, Linda, and Chicago Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski will accompany Richardson on the trip to Khartoum, said Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for the governor. Salopek's wife and Lipinski had asked for Richardson's help.

"I will encourage President al-Bashir to recognize the essential role of journalists and a free press and release Paul and his colleagues on humanitarian grounds," Richardson said in a statement on Wednesday.