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Dorothy Parvaz, an Al-Jazeera journalist has not been heard from since she entered Syria to report on the political turmoil there, the Arab satellite TV station said.Joshua Trujillo/AP

One week has passed since Dorothy Parvaz was last seen, boarding a quick flight from Doha to Damascus.

The journalist, dispatched to cover protests in Syria for al-Jazeera, planned to use her Iranian passport to enter the country because it didn't require a visa.

As one of the few foreign reporters to attempt access to the country, it was an act of bravery but also a gamble.

When she left Doha, the unrest in Syria had become so violent that Ms. Parvaz chose not tell her father where she was going, for fear he would worry.

When her plane touched down, she was apparently arrested by Syrian authorities that have since confirmed they are holding the 39-year-old in detention, adding they are treating her well.

Their statement is of little comfort to Ms. Parvaz's family who have gathered at her parents' home in North Vancouver to press for her release.

"We're incredibly concerned about Dorothy," her fiancé, Todd Baker, told The Globe And Mail in a telephone interview Thursday. "Nobody's talked to Dorothy in a week. It's very alarming."

Although Ms. Parvaz spent most her distinguished career in the United States, her roots in Canada run deep. Her father, Fred, is a physics teacher at Capilano University in British Columbia.

Ms. Parvaz was born in Iran and lived there with her grandmother through the 1979 Iranian Revolution. She subsequently moved to the United Arab Emirates to live with her father, her stepmother and her sister.

When Ms. Parvaz was 12, the family moved to British Columbia where she attended high school, and later earned an undergraduate degree in English literature at the University of British Columbia, before completing a masters of journalism at the University of Arizona.

She was a celebrated feature writer and columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper before it closed down.

"She was a blast to work with: Super-sharp, very diligent and she writes great," said Joe Copeland, who served on the editorial board with Ms. Parvaz at the paper.

"She's very much a progressive. She's got a very international background and really tried to expose her readers to other ways of thinking about issues," he added.

She won a prestigious Neiman Fellowship in 2009, spending the year at Harvard University before moving to Britain, where she earned another fellowship at Cambridge, where she focused on the media and Iran.

She worked at al-Jazeera primarily as a feature writer for its website.

"She is very committed and very dedicated. She wanted to be a journalist from the time she was in high school," her father said.

"She loves her profession. She loves to tell stories, because it's what she lives for. She told me once she breathes much better when she is in the newsroom," he said.

She had recently returned from Japan where she covered the tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.

Media organizations have been barred by Damascus from reporting on the violent repression of anti-government protesters. It is believed that 20 journalists have been detained since demonstrations erupted in March.

Ms. Parvaz holds triple citizenship - Canadian, American and Iranian - which could help secure her release.

Over the past week, pressure has been building on the diplomatic front to release Ms. Parvaz. On Tuesday, it was confirmed the U.S. ambassador to Syria had met with a senior Syrian official about Ms. Parvaz.

According to al-Jazeera, Iranian officials have also been in contact with their Syrian counterparts over the matter - a fact that may prove crucial to securing Ms. Parvaz's release, given Iran's influence.

Ottawa meanwhile has said its officials in Syria are attempting to gather more information about the case.

Mr. Parvaz said no consular official has been allowed access to his daughter.

"Nobody from our embassies have been able to speak with her. This is very disturbing," he said.

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