The family of a war correspondent killed in Syria is to sue the Syrian government over her death.
Marie Colvin was an American working for The Sunday Times when she travelled to Syria in February 2012 to cover the siege of Homs with British photographer Paul Conroy and Syrian interpreter Wael al Omar.
At the time, the Syrian city was under rebel control and suffering badly from the tactics of starvation and shelling of civilians used by Syrian president Bashar al Assad.
On 21 February, Ms Colvin told CNN: "It's a complete and utter lie that they're only going after terrorists.
"The Syrian Army is simply shelling a city of cold, starving civilians."
Later that night, an informant's tip led Syrian military intelligence to her location and the following morning, Syrian artillery fired on the building, killing her and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
French photographer Remi Ochlik died in the same attack that killed Ms Colvin
Mr Conroy and Mr Wael were injured.
US-based Center for Justice and Accountability and co-counsel Shearman and Sterling LLP have filed a lawsuit against the Syrian government in a US District Court on behalf of Ms Colvin's sister Cathleen Colvin and other surviving family members.
CJA lawyer Scott Gilmore said: "Marie Colvin was killed for exposing the Assad regime's slaughter of innocent civilians to the world.
"The regime wanted to wage a war without witness against democratic opposition. To do that, they needed to neutralise the media."
CJA executive director Dixon Osburn added: "This is the first war crimes case against the Assad regime - but it won't be the last.
"Building a lasting peace in Syria will require accountability for those on all sides of the conflict who are responsible for atrocities."
The lawsuit is filed under a federal law allowing victims to sue designated state sponsors of terrorism for the murder of US citizens.
Ms Colvin, a 25-year veteran of war coverage, and Mr Ochlik are among more than 200 journalists killed in Syria since March 2011.
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