ROME, June 6 (Reuters) - Italian journalist Domenico Quirico, a veteran war correspondent who went missing in Syria two months ago, is alive and on Thursday spoke to his wife by telephone, according to his Turin-based newspaper la Stampa.

The 61-year-old Quirico entered Syria from Lebanon on April 6 to report on the country's civil war and had been out of contact since April 9.

In a statement, Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Quirico had been in touch with his family and called on the media to act responsibly "in this particularly delicate moment" so that he could be brought home.

"Domenico Quirico is well, and we trust in the work of our authorities to bring him home," Mario Calabresi, la Stampa's editor-in-chief, said on Twitter. "He is still in Syria and we hope to hold him in our arms again soon."

No further details about Quirico's current whereabouts or his disappearance were given.

Quirico has reported on conflicts in Sudan, Uganda and Libya and on the Arab spring uprisings. In 2011, Quirico was kidnapped in Libya with three other Italian journalists, and their driver was killed. He and his colleagues were released two days later.

Four Italian journalists were kidnapped in Syria in April and were released after a little more than a week in captivity. The civil war has made Syria one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. (Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

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