New York, Feb 18 (IANS/EFE): Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times, died of an apparent asthma attack while covering the uprising in Syria, The Times said Friday. He was 43.

Shadid, a Lebanese-American, died Thursday as he and Times photographer Tyler Hicks were on their way back to neighbouring Turkey in the company of smugglers, the newspaper said.

"Anthony died as he lived - determined to bear witness to the transformation sweeping the Middle East and to testify to the suffering of people caught between government oppression and opposition forces," Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson said Thursday night in a message to the newsroom.

Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati, offered condolences to Shadid's family, friends and colleagues, writing on Twitter: "I've known and admired him personally. N.M."

Shadid began his journalist career in 1990 with The Associated Press and later worked for The Boston Globe and The Washington Post before joining The Times two years ago.

During his tenure with the Post, he received Pulitzers in 2004 and 2010 for reporting on Iraq.

Shadid, who survived a shooting in 2002, was one of six journalists held for six days by pro-Gaddafi forces in March 2011 while covering the civil war in Libya.